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OF  CALIFORNIA 

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GIFT  OF 

Richard  Petrie 


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THE  NATIONAL   HISTORY    OF  FRANCE 

EDITED  BY 

FR.  FUNCK-BRENTANO 
With  an  Introduction  by  J.  E.  C.  BODLEY 


THE    EIGHTEENTH 
CENTURY 


THE  NATIONAL  HISTORY  OF  FRANCE 
EDITED  BY  Fll.  FUNCK-BRENTANO 

WiTu  AN  Introduction  by  J.  E.  C.  BODLEY 

Each  Volume  Demy  8vo 

THE  MIDDLE  AGES.    By  Fr.  Funck-Brentano 

[To  be  Published 

THE  CENTURY  OF  THE  RENAISSANCE.  By  L. 

Batikfol  [Heady 

THE  GREAT  CENTURY.     By  Jacques  Boulenoer 

[ShorUy 

THE  XVIIIth  CENTURY.     By  Casimir  Stryienski 

THE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION.     By  Louis  Madi.lin 

[In  the  Press 

THE  CONSULATE  AND  THE  EMPIRE.     By  Louis 

Madkun  [To  be  Published 

NEW  YORK:   G.  P.  PUTNAM'S   SONS 


THE  NATIONAL  HISTORY  OF  FRANCE 

THE    EIGHTEENTH 
CENTURY 

rCROWNED    BY    THE     ACADEMIE     DBST 
LSCIENCBS  MORALES  HT  POLITIQUBSj 

BY 

CASIMIR    STRYIENSKI 


TRANSLATED  FROM  THE  FRENCH  BY 

H.  N.  DICKINSON 


NEW  YORK 

G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS 


Printed  in  Great  Britain 


CONTENTS 

FIRST  PART— REGENCY  OF  THE 
DUG  D'ORLEANS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.  THE  COMMENCEMENT  OF  THE  REGENCY,  1715  3 

II.  THE  EDUCATION  OF  LOUIS  XV,  1715-1722  12 

III.  THE  SYSTEM,  1715-1720  24 

IV.  THE  TWO  CARDINALS,  1716-1723  88 

SECOND  PART— THE  DUC  DE  BOURBON 
AND  CARDINAL  FLEURY 

V.  THE  KING'S  MARRIAGE,  1723-1725  57 

VI.  A  PALACE  REVOLUTION,  1725-1726  76 

VII.  THE  QUEEN'S  DOWRY,  1727-1737  84 

VIII.  THE  ROYAL  FAMILY  98 

IX.  FOR  THE  PRUSSIAN  KING,  1740-1743  112 

THIRD  PART— LOUIS  XV 

X.  LOUIS  THE  WELL-BELOVED,  1743-1744  129 

"Ik    XI.  "  AS  STUPID  AS  THE  PEACE,"  1744-1749  146 

XII.  LOUIS  XV  BECOMES  UNPOPULAR,  1749-1757  154 

XIII.  THE  SEVEN  YEARS  WAR,  1756-1763  171 

XIV.  CHOISEUL,  1764-1770  188 
XV.  THE  DEATH  OF  THE  KING,  1770-1774  199 


85r>l.53 


CONTENTS 
FOURTH  PART— LOUIS  XVI 

CHAPTER  FAQB 

XVI.  THE  CORONATION,  177Jr— JUNE  11,  1775  218 

XVII.  THE  QUEEN'S  SURROUNDINGS,  177.5-1776  228 

XVIII.  THE  EMPEROR'S  VISIT.  1777  244 

XIX.  BIRTH  OF  MADAME  ROYALE  255 

XX.  THE  END  OF  THE  AMERICAN  WAR,  1779-178.1  201 

XXI.  THE  QUEEN'S  FIRST  CALVARY,  1785  260 

XXII.  DAWN  OF  THE  REVOLUTION  282 


FIFTH  PART— THE  ARTISTIC  AND 
LITERARY  MOVEMENT 

XXIII.  I.— THE  ARTS  ;    ii.— THE  SCIENCES  ;    in.— LITERATURE  ; 

IV.— THE  SALONS  297 

INDEX  337 


FIRST  PART 

THE  REGENCY  OF  THE  DUG 
D'ORLEANS 


CHAPTER  I 

THE  COMMENCEMENT  OF  THE  REGENCY 
1715 

The  death  of  Louis  XIV.     The  Royal  family.     The  Due  du 

Maine.     The  Due  d'Orleans  :    his  character.     The  late   King's 

will  disregarded.     The  new  King's  Lit  de  Justice  on  September  12  ; 

his  portrait  ;  the  popularity  of  Louis  XV. 

LOUIS  XIV  is  dead  and  his  courtiers  breathe  again. 
.  The  last  years  of  the  King  had  been  mournful  and 
^  morose.  The  words  that  he  addressed  to  his  great- 
grandson  when  giving  him  his  blessing  convey  an  echo  of  those 
Death  of  troubled  times  : 

Louis  XIV.  "  You  will  be  a  great  King  ;    do  not  imitate 

me  in  my  taste  for  building,  nor  in  my  taste  for  war.  .  .  .  Try 
to  lighten  the  burden  of  your  people,  as  I,  unhappily,  have  not 
been  able  to  do." 

These  moving  and  humane  words  had  in  them  something 
of  the  prophetic.  In  1715  a  new  era  was  beginning.  The 
King  was  to  retain  his  divine  prestige  for  nearly  a  cen- 
tury in  spite  of  everything,  but  the  nation  around  him 
was  adopting  a  new  life.  The  history  of  the  eighteenth 
century  is  the  history  of  the  disorganization  of  the  ancient 
monarchy,  to  end  at  last  in  revolution.  Imperceptibly,  the 
modern  spirit  grew,  developed,  and  assumed  more  tangible 
shapes.  Soon  a  lamentable  ruin  was  all  that  remained  of 
the  ancient  edifice ;  our  Acropolis  was  destroyed,  and  like 
that  of  Athens  it  became  but  a  shrine  for  pilgrims  where 
some  might  come  to  mourn  the  vanity  of  human  things, 
others  to  raise  the  song  of  victory.  Chamfort  triumphantly 
recalled  the  saying  of  a  courtier  in  1715  :  "  After  the  death 
of  a  Louis  XIV  anything  may  be  expected ;  the  greatest 
calamities  may  occur." 

3 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

The  great  King's  successor  was  five  and  a  half  years  old  ; 
he  >vas  the  son  of  the  Due  de  Bourgogne  and  IVIarie  Adelaide 
The  Royal  of  Savoy,  whose  wit  and  charm  had  cheered  and 

Family.  solaced   the   last   years   of  Louis   XIV.     At   his 

birth,  on  February  5,  1710,  Louis  XV  had  seemed  far  enough 
from  the  tin-one.  His  great-grandfatlier,  his  grand fatlier  (the 
great  Dauphin),  his  father  and  his  elder  brother  (the  Due  de 
Bretagnc)  were  still  living,  four  barriers  in  his  way  to  the 
throne.  In  two  years  all  had  gone,  and  the  only  representative 
of  the  direct  Bourbon  line  was  a  feeble  orphan.  Both  the  State 
and  the  King  needed  a  guardian.  Until  the  heir  to  the  throne 
should  attain  his  majority  the  country  would  have  to  be 
governed  by  a  Regent.  Louis  XIV,  in  his  will,  appointed  two 
persons  to  i)erform  this  duty :  his  nephew,  Philippe,  Due 
d'Orleans,  son  of  Monsieur  and  Elisabeth  Charlotte,  Princess 
Palatine,  and  his  legitimized  son,  the  Due  du  Maine.  The 
former  was  to  have  the  title  of  Regent,  but  he  was  to  be  at 
the  mercy  of  the  latter  who  alone  was  "  charged  with  watching 
over  the  safety,  preservation  and  education  of  the  King  during 
his  minority." 

These  princes  represented  two  rival  parties.  The  Due  du 
Maine,  brought  up  by  IVIadame  de  Maintcnon,  was  the  Benjamin 
The  Due  of  Louis  XIV.     The  edict  of  August  2,  1714,  by 

du  Maine.  recognizing  the  legitimized  children  of  Louis  XIV 

and  their  descendants  as  equal  to  the  princes  of  the  blood- 
royal  had  "  put  the  finishing  touch  to  the  hereditary  greatness  " 
of  M.  du  Maine.  This  paternal  weakness  encouraged  the 
flattery  of  place-seekers,  and  grouped  around  the  Duke  such 
])eople  as  the  Marshal  de  Villeroy  and  President  de  Mesmes, 
to  say  nothing  of  those  who  awaited  events  before  knowing  to 
which  side  they  should  give  their  allegiance. 

M.  du  Maine  was  not  lacking  in  intelligence,  but  he  had  a 
tendency  towards  avarice  and  one  weakness  that  is  fatal  among 
Frenchmen — cowardice.  At  the  siege  of  Namur,  in  1G95, 
M.  d'Elbeuf  asked  him  before  a  number  of  oHicers  where  he 
would  be  stationed  in  the  approaching  campaign.  When  the 
Duke  asked  the  reason  for  this  question,  M.  d'Elbeuf  replied 
"  Because  with  you  one's  life  is  safe." 

The  Duke  made  a  bad  use  of  his  intelligence  ;  he  took 
4 


COMMENCEMENT    OF    REGENCY 

especial  pleasure  in  false  and  tortuous  ways.     In  appearance, 
his  face  was  sufficiently  prepossessing,  but  he  had  little  re- 
semblance to  his  majestic  father  ;    he  was  small  of  stature, 
deformed  and  lame,  and  he  had  "  an  ungainly  walk."     Philippe 
d'Orleans,  on  the  contrary,  was  popular :  both  from  his  frank, 
open,  and  amiable  character  and  from  the  retirement  in  which 
his  uncle  had  kept  him.     He  had  wished  for  a  military  com- 
mand, but  in  spite  of  the  brilliance  of  his  first  engagements  at 
Leuze  in  1691,  at  Steinkerque,  where  he  was  wounded,  in  1692, 
and  at  Nerwinde  in  1693,  he  had  difficulty  in  obtaining  per- 
mission to  take  part  in  the  Italian  campaign  of  1706.     There, 
owing  to  the  folly  of  La  Feuillade  and  de  Marsin,  who  would  not 
listen  to  him,  he  was  present  at  the  defeat  of  Turin  where  he 
conducted  himself  with  courage  and  was  seriously  wounded. 
During  the  years  1707  and  1708  he  was  in  Spain  defending  the 
interests  of  Philip  V.     As  master  of  the  situation  he  showed  a 
considerable  talent  both  in  administration  and  generalship  ;  the 
towns  of  Valencia,  Saragossa,  Lerida,  and  Tortosa  surrendered 
to  him.     His  popularity  increased  to  the  point  of  overshadowing 
that  of  the  King  of  Spain  himself.     Unpleasant  rumours  were 
spread  about  him  ;    it  was  reported  that  he  wished  to  seize 
the  crown  of  Castille.     These  calumnies  brought  him  into  dis- 
grace, and  for  a  while  he  was  condemned  to  obscurity  ;   but  he 
profited  thereby  in  acquiring  a  closer  knowledge  of  men.     During 
this  period  he  had  to  struggle  against  far    more    formidable 
enemies  than  those  he  had  conquered.     Certain  courtiers,  led 
by  M.  du  Maine,  accused  him  of  having  poisoned  the  Due  and 
Duchess   de   Bourgogne,  stating  as  evidence  that  he  studied 
chemistry  in  his  leisure  hours.     Then,  again,  he  gave  Louis  XIV 
cause  to  be  angry  with  him  ;  he  conducted  himself  with  culpable 
frivolity   and   neglected   his    wife,    a   legitimized   daughter   of 
Louis  XIV  and  a  sister  of  M.  du  Maine,  to  whom  the  King  had 
married  him  against  his  will  in  1692. 

It  is  not  surprising  that  Louis  XIV  followed  the  dictates 
of  his  heart  and  gave  his  nephew  a  phantom  regency  for  the 
benefit  of  M.  du  Maine.  No  doubt  the  great  King  would  have 
liked  to  go  still  further,  but  he  could  not  take  from  the  Due 
d' Orleans  the  title  of  first  prince  of  the  blood-royal  or  its 
accompanying  rights.     Louis   knew,   however,   that   wills   are 

5 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

frajrilc.  He  knew  tliat  those  of  Henri  IV  and  Louis  XIH  liad 
been  disregarded  ;  he  foresaw  the  dilhculties  wliieh  were  certain 
to  arise  and  he  said  to  PhiHppc  :  "  I  have  made  what  I  have 
considered  to  be  the  wisest  disposition  ;  but  one  cannot  foresee 
everything,  and  if  there  is  any  point  which  is  not  satisfactory, 
it  will  be  changed."  For  an  intelUgent  prince  who  was  desirous 
of  securing  his  position  this  verbal  testament  was  a  suflicient 
programme.  Saint-Simon  is  deceived  in  thinking  that  the 
nephew  of  Louis  XIV  was  taken  unawares.  It  was  not  so, 
for  the  coup  d'Etat  was  prepared  with  as  much  skill  as  discretion. 
The  Due  d'  Orleans  made  certain  of  a  great  part  of  the  army 
and  of  the  Parlement  of  Paris  before  the  death  of  the  King. 
He  was  sure  of  the  support  of  his  cousin  and  ally,  George  I  of 
England,  with  whom  he  had  started  a  political  correspondence 
in  1714.  This  newly  made  monarch  had  a  particular  reason  for 
not  wishing  to  see  the  Due  du  Maine  master  of  the  kingdom  of 
France  ;  he  had  justifiable  fears  that  the  latter  would  support 
the  Pretender,  James  Stuart,  son  of  James  II,  and  would  thus 
menace  both  the  peace  of  Europe  and  the  throne  which  he 
occupied,  more  or  less  as  an  usurper. 

The  Due  d'Orleans  had  also  in  his  favour  his  brilliant 
military  exploits,  his  ready  eloquence,  and  liis  generosity.  He 
The  Due  flattered  himself  on  his  resemblance  to  Henri  IV 

d'Orleans.  and  studied  to  increase  "  this  resemblance  in  the 

vices  of  that  prince  as  in  his  virtues."  But  when  put  to  the 
proof,  he  could  not  continue  long  in  the  same  direction,  for  he 
had  no  spirit  of  perseverance.  He  was  impulsive  ;  if  he  stopped 
to  reflect  he  became  so  undecided  that  he  could  not  be  induced 
to  make  up  his  mind  at  all.  Madame  Palatine  wrote  a  cele- 
brated description  of  her  son  in  the  form  of  an  apology,  in 
which  she  frankly  showed  his  vulneralile  points.  He  is,  said 
the  princess,  like  the  child  to  whose  baptism  the  fairies  had 
been  invited  :  one  willed  him  a  beautiful  form,  another  eloquence, 
the  third  a  talent  for  the  arts,  tlie  fourth  an  aptitude  for  physical 
exercises,  the  fifth  martial  glory,  the  sixth  courage.  Put  they 
had  forgotten  to  invite  the  seventh  fairy  :  "  I  cannot  take  back 
from  the  child,"  she  said,  "  what  my  sisters  have  given  him, 
but  during  his  entire  life  1  will  be  against  him,  so  that  all  these 
favours  will  be  useless  to  him."  This  seventh  fairy  was 
6 


COMMENCEMENT   OF   REGENCY 

indolence,  and  the  laxity  which  made  the  prince  blasS  and 
bored  and  led  him  into  his  worst  errors.  Yet  the  six  other 
fairies  did  not  abandon  their  protege  ;  they  often  came  to 
his  aid. 

At  the  decisive  moments,  on  the  eve  of  and  on  the  day  after 
the  death  of  Louis  XIV,  Phihppe  d 'Orleans  was  entirely  master 
The  King's  of  himself  and  scored  a  brilliant  success  over  the 
Will  Due  du  Maine.     On  September  2,  the  Parlement 

disregarded.  of  Paris,  charged  with  opening  and  executing  the 
royal  testament,  decided  first  of  all  that  the  Regency  should 
go  to  the  Due  d'Orleans  "  by  right  of  birth."  In  return  the 
prince,  by  an  adroit  move,  revoked  the  edicts  of  1667  and  1673 
which  had  taken  all  political  authority  from  the  Parlement ; 
in  his  speech  he  emphasized  his  liberality.  "  Whatever  my 
right,"  he  said,  "  to  aspire  to  the  Regency,  I  dare  assure  you, 
gentlemen,  that  I  shall  merit  it  by  my  zeal  in  the  service  of 
the  King,  and  by  my  love  of  the  public  welfare,  with  the  aid, 
above  all,  of  your  advice  and  wise  admonition.''^  The  victory 
was  won.  The  Due  du  Maine  took  fright,  as  was  his  wont  on 
a  field  of  battle,  and  appealed  to  the  court  to  decide  "  what  he 
was  to  be  ";  he  hoped  that  they  would  not  leave  him  an  empty 
title.  At  these  words,  the  Due  d'Orleans  declared  the  clauses 
of  the  testament  which  had  just  been  opened  to  be  monstrous. 
Was  it  possible  that  he,  the  Regent,  should  be  under  the  orders 
of  a  prince  who  would  be  master  of  everything,  of  the  King, 
of  Paris,  and  consequently  of  the  State  ?  He  wished  to  be 
freed  of  this  tutelage,  to  have  the  free  disposition  of  pardon, 
employment,  place  and  benefice  ;  then  summing  up  all  in  a 
phrase  borrowed  from  Telemaque,  recalling  the  noble  traditions 
of  the  Due  de  Bourgogne,  he  added  :  "  I  wish  to  be  independent 
that  I  may  do  good,  and  I  am  willing  to  be  bound  in  whatever 
way  you  please  so  that  I  may  not  do  evil."  There  was  loud 
applause.  The  Due  du  Maine  saw  that  the  game  was  lost  and 
abandoned  the  contest,  merely  stipulating  that  he  should  have 
the  superintendence  of  the  education  of  Louis  XV. 

"Willingly,"  said  the  Regent,   "that  does  not  matter  so 
much." 

The  voting  was  in  accordance  with  the  wishes  of  Philippe 
d'Orleans  ;    no  vestige  of  authority  was  left  to  the  Due  du 

7 


THE    KIGIITEKNTII    CENTURY 

Maine.  Everything  was  in  the  hands  of  the  Regent,  ^vlio  had 
the  right  to  surround  himself  with  persons  chosen  by  himself, 
and  to  arrange  the  form  of  the  government  as  he  thought  fit. 
The  direction  of  affairs,  however,  was  vested  in  a  Council  of 
Regency,  who  were  to  decide  according  to  the  vote  of  the 
majority,  while  in  the  case  of  an  equal  division  the  Regent  was 
to  have  the  casting  vote. 

Thus,  Louis's  nephew,  with  the  strength  of  his  prestige, 
annulled  the  dispositions  of  his  uncle  by  means  of  the  very 
magistrates  who  had  been  commissioned  to  uphold  them ;  at 
^  n  the  same  time  he  had  restored  the  Parlement  to  its  rightful  posi- 
^  Qtion,  which  had  been  disregarded  for  many  years.  This  was  the 
first  liberal  measure  of  the  Regent,  though  it  was  not  absolutely 
disinterested.  None  the  less  he  gave  an  impetus  to  the  power 
of  that  Assembly  which  was  to  play  so  leading  a  part  during  the 
whole  eighteenth  century.  The  precautions  which  were  taken 
for  the  safety  of  the  Duke  were  unnecessary  ;  there  was  no  need 
to  have  recourse  to  the  armed  force  which  was  stationed  at  the 
Palais  dc  Justice  in  readiness  to  support  him.  As  he  left  the 
Sainte-Chapelle  there  were  repeated  cries  of  "  Vive  le  Roi,  Vive 
Ic  Regent  1  "  On  the  same  evening  he  returned  to  Versailles, 
where  he  received  the  congratulations  of  the  court. 

The  powers  with  which  he  had  just  been  vested  were  con- 
firmed at  the  Hi  de  justice  held  on  September  12.  There  is  an 
The  new  interesting     picture     at     Versailles     painted     by 

King's  Dumesnil  which  shows  the    minutest  details  of 

lit  de  justice,  the  ceremony  :  the  great  chamber,  or  chambre 
dorS,  with  its  royal  decoration  of  blue  hangings  ornamented 
with  golden  fleurs-de-lis  ;  in  one  corner,  on  a  dais,  Louis  XV 
is  seated,  still  so  fragile  that  he  was  ol)liged  to  have  his  governess, 
the  Duchesse  de  Ventadour,  with  him  ;  the  Due  de  Tresmes, 
Governor  of  Paris,  had  carried  the  King  from  his  carriage  to 
the  throne,  a  woman  kneels  at  his  feet  to  watch  over  his  weak- 
ness— symbolical  of  his  whole  reign,  for  Louis  XV  was  for  ever 
surrounded  by  women  and  courtiers. 

It  was  a  large  assembly  ;  the  King  was  su})portcd  by  the 
Grand  Chamberlain,  peers  spiritual  and  temporal,  princes  of  the 
blood-royal,  governors  and  lieutenants-general  of  provinces,  the 
chancellor,  the  chief  president,  the  chief  justice  and  the  councillors 
8 


COMMENCEMENT    OF    REGENCY 

of  the  Parlement.  There  are  two  portraits  of  the  child-King 
also  at  Versailles,  one  by  Rigaud  and  the  other  by  Ranc.  In 
spite  of  the  official  character  of  these  state  portraits  they  show 
the  whole  charm  of  his  youth,  grace,  and  beauty.  They  depict 
faithfully  the  Louis  XV  whom  Madame  Palatine  has  described, 
with  large,  black  eyes,  long  curling  lashes,  fresh  complexion,  | 
tiny  mouth,  quantities  of  long,  dark  hair,  and  a  straight  and 
well-formed  figure.  The  painters  have  reproduced  these  attri-/ 
butes  marvellously,  Rigaud  with  the  masterly  touch  of  an 
assured  artist,  and  Ranc  with  that  scrupulous  attention  to 
detail  which  in  him  took  the  place  of  genius. 

P.  D.  Martin's  picture,  also  at  Versailles,  shows  us  the  front 
of  the  Sainte-Chapelle,  from  which  the  King  has  just  come 
after  the  lit  de  justice.  Louis  XV,  once  more  carried  by  the 
Due  de  Tresmes,  is  on  the  top  of  the  flight  of  steps,  escorted  by 
the  Regent,  the  Due  de  Bourbon  and  the  princes  of  the  blood- 
royal.  The  square  was  crowded  with  people  wishing  to  see  the 
King.  The  French  and  the  Swiss  guards  could  hardly  move 
amongst  the  enthusiastic  crowd  that  cheered  the  new  monarch. 
The  cannon  of  the  Bastille  was  fired  and  the  town  was  en  fete. 
An  officer  of  the  bodyguard  distributed  money  to  the  people 
from  time  to  time  on  the  journey  from  Paris  to  Vincennes 
where,  in  accordance  with  Louis  XIV's  express  desire,  his 
descendant  and  successor  was  to  live,  that  he  might  be  in  "  the 
fresh  air."  Following  an  ancient  custom,  birds  were  set  free 
in  the  court  of  the  palace,  symbolical  of  the  deliverance  of 
prisoners  ;  the  Regent,  not  contented  with  the  symbol  alone, 
ordered  the  doors  of  Vincennes,  the  Bastille,  the  Conciergerie, 
Saint -Eloi  and  For-l'Ev^que  to  be  opened,  liberating  most  of 
the  prisoners,  particularly  the  Jansenists.  Thus  the  new  reign 
began  under  the  best  auspices.  The  Regent  contented  himself 
with  exiling  Pere  le  Tellier,  the  confessor  of  Louis  XIV,  and  he 
softened  the  voluntary  retreat  into  which  Madame  de  Maintenon 
had  retired.-" The  young  King  kept  for  a  long  time  the  popularity 
Popularity  of  of  which  he  received  the  first  proof  on  that  day. 
Louis  XV.  Ready  sympathy   was   naturally   given   to   this 

charming  child,  the  only  remaining  representative  of  a  great 
family  which  had  been  smitten  by  successive  blows  at  the  hand 
of  death. 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 


DESCENDANTS  OF  LOUIS  XIV 

Louis  XIV  m.  Maria-Theresa  of  Austria  (1600),  d.  1G83 
1638-1715 

Louis  (the  great  Dauphin)  m.  Anne  of  Bavaria  (1680),  d.  1690 
_.    _    ,.  1661-1711 

His  Pedigree.  . 

1  \  i 

Louis,  Due  de  Bourjrognc   Philippe,  King  of  Spain  Charles,  Due  dc  Berry 
m.  Marie  Adelaide  1683-1740  1686-171-4 

of  Savoy,  <!.  1712 
168*2-1712 


Louis,  Due  de  Bretagne     Louis  XV,  m.  Marie  Lcszczynska,  d.  176S 

1710-177-1 

I 
Louis  (Dauphin),  m.  Maric-Josephe 

of  Saxony,  d.  1767 

1729-1765 


Louis  XVI  Louis  XVIII  Charles  X 

m.  Marie-Antoinette,  d.  1793  1755-1824  1757-1830 

1754-1793 


DESCENDANTS  OF  LOUIS  XIV 

(Legitimized  Princes) 

Louis  XIV 


Due  du  Maine  Comic  de  Toulouse  Mile,  de  Navtes  Mile  de  lilois 

m.  Annc-Hcncdictc         w.  Sf»pliic  dc  m.  Ixniis,  Due  771.  Due  d'Orieans, 

dcBonrbon,  f/.1753  Noaillcs,    ^/.  1730        de  Bourbon,  l^egent 

1070-1730                   1078-1737                1073-1743  1077-1749 

I 
Ijyuis,  Due  de  Bourbon 

Prime  Minister  under  Louis  XV 

1092-1740 


10 


COMMENCEMENT    OF    REGENCY 


HOUSE  OF  ORLEANS 

Philippe,  Due  d'Orleans  (brother  of  Louis  XIV) 
m.  1.  Henrietta  of  England,  d.  1670, 

2.  Elisabeth  Charlotte,  Princess  Palatine,  d.  1722 
By  his  second  marriage 

I 
Philippe,  Regent  (1674-1723) 

i 
Louis,  Due  d'Orleans  (1703-1752) 

I 
Louis  Philippe,  Due  d'Orleans  (1725-1785) 

I 
Louis  Philippe,  Egalitc  (1747-1793) 

I 
Louis  Philippe  I,  King  of  the  French  (1773-1850) 

Principal  Sources.  Archives  of  the  Ministry  for  Foreign  Affairs, 
memoirs  and  documents,  France,  139  ;  Memoire  of  Le  Dran  on  the 
Regency  ;  Spanheim,  Relation  de  la  Cour  de  France  en  1690,  1  vol., 
Paris,  1882  ;  Memoires  of  Saint-Simon  ;  Journaux  of  Buvat,  Monais, 
Barbier ;  Correspondence  of  Madame  Palatine,  Duchesse  d'Orleans ; 
Memoires  sur  la  Regence,  3  vols..  The  Hague,  1737  ;  Toussaint,  Anecdotes 
curicuscs  de  la  Cour  de  France  (first  edition  with  real  names  of  the  cele- 
brated Memoires  secrets  pour  servir  a  Vhistoire  de  Perse),  Paris,  1905  ; 
Lemontey,  Histoire  de  la  Regence,  Paris,  1832  ;  Rocquain,  UEsprit 
revolutionnaire  avant  la  Revolution,  1  vol.,  Paris,  1878  ;  Nolhac  and  Perate, 
Le  musee  de  Versailles,  1  vol.,  Paris,  189G. 


11 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  EDUCATION  OF  LOUIS  XV 
1715-1722 

The  Minority  of  Louis  XV.  The  Duchcssc  de  Ventadour  Gover- 
ness to  the  young  jjrince.  Letters  of  Madame  Palatine  and  of 
Madame  de  Ventadour,  Visit  of  Peter  the  Great.  Marshal 
Villeroy,  the  King's  Governor.  His  portrait  (Saint-Simon,  Si)an- 
heim,  Rigaud).  Reception  of  Mehcmct  Effendi,  Ambassador 
from  the  Grand  Turk.  "  The  people  is  yours."  Dismissal  of 
Louis'  Governor.  Fleury.  Louis  and  the  Papal  Nuncio. 
Responsibilities  of  the  Rishop  of  Frejus.  The  Due  de  Charost 
appointed  to  succeed  Villeroy.  The  Return  from  the  Coronation. 
Lessons  in  the  Art  of  Governing. 

THE  RcfToncy  was  to  last  until  February  22,  1723,  when 
the  Kinrt  ofTicially  attained  his  majority.  At  the 
age  of  thirteen,  Louis  was  to  become  absolute  master 
of  Franee,  thoufrh  naturally  he  would  remain  under  the  guidance 
of  his  ehief  minister.  His  minority  was  not  troubled  by  sedition 
Minority  of  as  that  of  Louis  XIV  had  been.  During  the  early 
Louis  XV.  years  a  considerable    party    was    formed,    which 

seemed  ready  to  grant  liberty  to  the  Parlements,  to  Janscnists, 
to  members  of  the  reformed  religions,  and  to  those  subject  to 
"  taille  "  ;  blessings  were  to  flow  spontaneously  over  the  country. 
The  ambition  of  Philip  V  of  Spain,  who  asserted  his  rights  to 
the  regency  as  the  grandson  of  I*ouis  XFV,  and  the  speculations 
of  Law  the  Scotsman  momentarily  disturbed  the  prevailing 
calm,  but  there  was  no  other  excitement  during  that  period. 
However,  the  Regency  did  not  keep  its  promises,  but  in  the  end 
reverted  to  the  policy  of  the  preceding  reign.  The  nephew 
of  the  Great  King,  owing  to  his  indolent  character  and  to  the 
necessity,  which  statesmen  find  so  pressing,  of  giving  way  to 
private  interests,  never  completed  his  purpose  ;  the  seventh 
fairy  brought  him  ill  luck. 
12 


THE    EDUCATION    OF    LOUIS    XV 

But  before  these  events  are  dealt  with,  we  must  introduce 
some  of  the  pcrsonaHties,  who,  in  addition  to  the  Regent,  were 
charged  with  superintending  the  education  of  the  young 
monarch.  It  is  important  to  know  how  they  acquitted  them- 
selves of  their  task,  what  their  influence  was,  and  how  far 
they  were  responsible  for  the  results  obtained.  In  this  way 
we  shall  better  understand  the  strictures  passed  by  history 
upon  Louis  XV,Cwho  gave  evidence  of  his  character  at  an 
early  age. 

In  accordance  with  the  settled  custom,  the  King  was  at 
first  placed  in  the  charge  of  women.  His  Governess  was  the 
The  Duchesse  Duchesse  de  Ventadour,  Charlotte  de  la  Motte 
de  Ventadour.  Houdancourt,  late  lady-in-waiting  to  Madame 
Palatine.  She  was  now  elderly ;  but  there  had  been  a  time 
when  in  her  youth  and  beauty  she  had  had  a  brief  but  brilliant 
career,  and  rumour  had  been  busy  about  her.  In  1715  she  had 
become  extremely  pious,  and  she  maintained  the  tradition  of 
the  court  of  Louis  XIV  and  Madame  de  Maintenon  in  all  its 
rigorous  austerity. 

She  performed  her  duties  to  the  best  of  her  lights  and 
imagined  that  she  was  acting  wisely  in  flattering  her  pupil  and 
in  telling  him  that  he  was  a  being  apart,  to  whom  nothing  was 
comparable.  In  return  the  child  loved  his  Governess  alone, 
and  gave  the  Duchess,  whom  he  called  his  "  dear  mamma  " 
all  the  affection  of  which  his  heart  was  capable.  He  was 
small  and  delicate ;  consequently  he  was  never  crossed  or 
contradicted  and  was  allowed  to  do  whatever  he  pleased. 
Thus  he  was  badly  brought  up  and  began  to  give  indications  of 
what  he  was  to  be  throughout  his  life,  obstinate,  self-opinionated, 
and  proud,  taking  dislikes  to  people  for  no  apparent  reason,  only 
breaking  his  usual  taciturnity  to  make  some  offensive  remark. 
One  day  when  Monseigneur  de  Coislin,  Bishop  of  Metz,  came 
to  present  his  homage,  Louis  cried,  "  Ah,  mon  Dieu  !  how 
ugly  he  is ! "  The  bishop  turned  on  his  heel  remarking, 
"  What  a  badly  brought  up  little  boy  !  " 

Occasionally,  he  was  merely  playful.  On  one  occasion 
he  asked  M.  de  la  Vrilliere  who  he  was  and  the  courtier  replied, 
"  Your  Secretary  of  State."  The  King  at  once  requested  him 
to  enter  his  study  and  for  work  gave  him  nuts  to  shell. 

13 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

His  childish  pranks  were  overlooked  ;    every  one  showed 

complete  devotion  to  him,  young  as  he  was,  as  Madame  Palatine 

^  ..        c  said.     She  herself  treated  him  as  a  spoilt  child. 

Letters  of  ^  •     ,  •  i  , 

Madame  rcmarkmg  :       1  am  not  m  his  good  graces,  but 

Palatine  and  it  does  not  disturb  me,  for  by  the  time  he  is  old 
Madame  enough  to  reign,  I  shall  be  no  more  of  this  world 

de  Ventadour.  ^^^  j  ^j^^jj  ^^^^  ^je  dependent  on  his  caprices." 
There  is  a  letter  from  Madame  de  Ventadour  to  Madame  de 
Maintcnon,  which  proves  that  the  Governess  at  least  foresaw 
the  future  character  of  this  being  who  was  so  sad  and  morose 
in  his  childhood,  and  seemed  to  bear  the  burden  of  the  troubles 
which  had  afflicted  his  family.  "  He  is  a  child,"  she  wrote, 
"  who' must  be  taken  care  of;  he  is  not  naturally  gay  and 
great  pleasures  will  be  harmful  to  him,  for  he  will  abandon 
himself  to  them  too  much.  They  wish  him  to  display  the  same 
disposition  on  all  occasions  ;  and  you  know,  Madame,  how 
intolerable  such  restraint  is  at  any  time  of  life.  You  will  laugh 
at  me  when  I  tell  you  that  he  has  the  vapours  ;  yet  it  is  true  ; 
he  had  them  in  his  cradle.  The  result  is  his  mournful  air  and 
the  constant  necessity  of  rousing  him.  One  can  do  anything 
with  him  if  one  speaks  without  passion." 

It  is  difficult  to  undertake  the  defence  of  Louis  XV  ;  but 
before  he  is  condemned,  an  allowance  must  be  made  for  his 
education  at  the  hands  of  flatterers  ;  it  must  be  remembered 
that  he  was  always  surrounded  by  strangers,  and,  as  he 
himself  said,  that  he  had  lost  his  parents  before  he  could 
realize  his  loss.  All  these  are  extenuating  circumstances  from 
a  psychological  point  of  view.  Shakespeare,  with  his  great 
human  knowledge,  has  noticed  this  particular  agent  in  the 
deformation  of  character ;  when  he  introduces  unnatural . 
people  they  are  always  orphans ;  thus  Regan  and  Goneril, 
the  odious  daughters  of  King  Lear,  had  never  kno^vn  a  mother's 
smile.   '  '        , 

Madame  de  Ventadour  retained  her  position  until  1717, 
when  Louis,  who  was  now  seven  years  old,  was  placed  in 
the  charge  of  men.  The  ceremony  which  took  place  on  this 
occasion  was  conducted  with  great  pomp,  in  accordance  with 
custom.  The  Regent  and  the  whole  Court  repaired  to  the 
Tuilerics  in  brilliant  equipages  ;  the  King  was  disrobed  in  the 
14. 


THE    EDUCATION    OF    LOUIS    XV 

sight  of  all,  that  every  one  might  witness  the  good  state  of  his 
health  ;  then  he  was  dressed  in  new  clothes  and  handed  over 
to  his  governors  and  preceptors.  The  officers  who  were  to 
serve  him  were  presented,  even  including  a  Swiss  boy  "  aged 
six  and  a  half,  the  son  of  the  Swiss  attendant  of  Marshal  de 
Villeroy,  clothed  in  black  in  the  fashion  of  the  Swiss  Guard, 
holding  in  his  hand  a  halberd  with  silver  blade  and  ebony 
shaft." 

About  this  time,  the  Czar,  Peter  the  Great,  came  on  a  visit 
to  the  King  ;  the  visit  was  political  but  the  result  was  negative. 
Visit  of  Peter  The  Regent  rejected  the  advances  of  the  Russian 
the  Great.  Emperor,   not  wishing  to   ally  himself  with   an 

enemy  of  England  ;  he  also  declined  the  proposals  for  the 
marriage  of  the  young  King  made  by  the  Czar.  Peter  had  a 
daughter,  Elizabeth  Petrovna,  who  was  of  the  same  age  as 
Louis,  and  he  dreamt  for  the  moment  of  placing  her  on  the 
throne  of  France. 

This  event  excited  the  well-known  curiosity  of  Parisians ; 
for  a  month  and  a  half  the  Czar  was  extremely  popular.  As 
he  passed  through  the  streets  with  his  half-barbarous  appear- 
ance, his  restless  gaze,  his  simple  tastes  and  dark  clothes, 
forming  a  contrast  to  the  fastidiousness  of  the  French  Court, 
the  Parisians  were  delighted.  He  showed  an  interest  in  the 
people,  in  the  workmen,  and  in  the  philanthropic  institu- 
tions, disdaining  anything  which  was  merely  pleasure.  The 
luxury  of  the  French  surprised  him  greatly.  He  even  said 
that  this  luxury  would  be  the  ruin  of  the  country.  Peter 
received  a  visit  from  the  King,  and  embraced  him  several 
times.  He  lifted  him  in  his  arms  until  he  was  on  a  level  with 
him,  caressed  him  often  and  seemed  charmed  with  his  grace  and 
his  handsome  face. 

To  revert  to  the  education  of  Louis  XV.  The  Governor 
appointed  was  Marshal  de  Villeroy ;  he  had  been  nominated 
Marshal  de  ^^  Louis  XIV  himself,  who  said  of  him  in  his 
Villeroy,  will :    "By  his    good  conduct,  his   probity  and 

the  King's  his  talents  he  has  seemed  to  merit  the  honour  of 
Governor.  ^j^jg  mark  of  our  esteem  and  confidence." 

Villeroy  was  incapable  of  giving  Louis  any  serious  guidance. 
He  had  often  been  unfortunate  on  the  field  of  battle  and  was  in 

15 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

reality  little  more  than  a  courtier  sated  by  royal  favours,  owing 
all  to  the  chance  circumstance  that  he  had  been  brou<^ht  up 
with  Louis  XIV.  In  his  latest  capacity  as  Governor  his  attitude 
>vas  servile,  and  he  attached  little  importance  to  anything  but 
futilities.  He  was  seventy-three  years  of  age,  but  retained 
all  the  fine  airs  of  the  old  Court ;  tall,  well  made,  and  of  pleasant 
appearance,  he  remains  essentially  magnificent,  a  very  prince  of 
dandies.  Saint-Simon  says  of  him  :  "  He  was  the  kind  of 
man  who  is  created  for  the  especial  purpose  of  presiding  over  a 
ball,  of  being  judge  at  a  tournament,  and,  if  he  had  the  voice, 
of  singing  at  the  opera  in  the  part  of  king  or  hero  ;  essentially 
fitted  to  set  the  fashions,  but  good  for  nothing  else."  His  judg- 
ment may  seem  severe,  but  it  is  confirmed  by  Spanheim,  the 
discreet  ambassador  whose  descriptions  of  the  Court  of  Louis 
XIV  are  so  interesting.  His  verdict  on  the  subject  of  the 
IVLarshal  was  :  "  His  views  are  restricted  and  his  discern- 
ment dull,  and  if  we  may  judge  his  capacity  by  the  event,  he 
is  the  sort  of  oflicer  who  finds  himself  better  suited  to  the 
ballroom  than  to  the  field  of  battle.  Magnificence  is  his  mania, 
but  magnificence  with  a  suspicion  of  bad  taste  ;  there  is  always 
something  of  the  flunkey  {Mascarille)  about  him."  The  por- 
trait of  Meiiippe  in  la  Bruy^rc  is  a  complete  portrait  of  the 
Marshal ;  "  Menippe  is  the  bird  decked  in  divers  plumes 
which  do  not  belong  to  him  ...  a  man  who  is  tolerable  for 
a  quarter  of  an  hour  at  a  time,  but  after  that  degenerates,  loses 
the  little  lustre  that  a  little  memory  may  give  him,  and  reveals 
the  sow's  ear."  The  Marshal  was  not  popular  and  inter- 
course with  him  was  insupportable  ;  it  was  impossible  to 
endure  this  man  who  sought  applause  and  whose  sole  topics 
were  mere  reflections  of  fashion  and  the  trite  formulas  of  polite 
speech.  In  spite  of  the  pomp  of  an  official  portrait,  Rigaud's 
picture  in  the  Musee  deCaen  has  faithfully  shown  the  self-satisfied 
air  which  was  the  principal  feature  of  Villeroy's  physiognomy. 

When  Louis  XIV  was  very  young  he  had  danced  ballets 
in  public  with  girls  from  the  opera  ;  Villeroy  "  a  worshipper 
of  the  late  King  even  in  trifles,"  desired  that  Louis  XV  should 
follow  his  example ;  he  merely  succeeded  in  disgusting  the  child 
with  such  exhibitions,  which  he  held  in  abhorrence  for  the  rest 
of  his  life. 
16 


THE    EDUCATION    OF    LOUIS    XV 

In  another  way,  Villeroy  showed  the  trifling  pre-occupa- 
tions  which  seem  to  have  been  his  sole  concern.  In  March  1721, 
Mehemet  Mehemet  Effendi,  the  ambassador  of  the  Sublime 

Effendi,  Am-  Porte,  was  presented  to  Louis.  The  scene  as 
bassador  from  described  by  the  Sultan's  envoy  himself  was 
Turkey.  delightful : 

"  As  soon  as  the  prince  saw  me,  he  turned  to  me  and  I  ap- 
proached him.  Friendly  discussions  on  divers  matters  were  the 
subject  of  our  conversation.  He  was  delighted  to  examine  our 
clothes  and  our  poignards  one  after  another.  The  Marshal 
(Villeroy)  asked  me  : 

"  '  What  is  your  opinion  of  our  King's  beauty  ?  ' 

"  '  God  be  praised,'  I  replied,  '  and  may  He  preserve  him 
from  evil  I  ' 

"  '  He  is  only  eleven  years  and  four  months  old,  and  is  not  his 
figure  well  proportioned  ?  Notice  especially  that  his  hair  is 
his  own.' 

"  In  saying  this  he  turned  the  King  round,  and  I  looked  at 
his  hyacinthine  locks  as  I  caressed  him.  They  were  like  smooth 
strands  of  gold  and  reached  down  to  his  waist. 

"  '  His  carriage  too  is  particularly  fine,'  went  on  the  Governor 
and  at  the  same  time  he  said  to  the  King  :     '  Take  a  few  steps,' 

"  Louis  XV  walked  to  the  centre  of  the  room  with  the 
majestic  step  of  a  partridge  and  returned. 

"  '  Walk  a  little  quicker,'  added  the  Marshal,  '  so  that  we 
may  see  how  lightly  you  run.' 

' '  Immediately  the  King  began  to  run  speedily.  The  Governor 
then  asked  me  if  I  found  him  amiable. 

"  '  May  the  All-powerful  God  who  has  created  so  beautiful 
a  creature  bless  him,'  I  rejoined." 

On  each  festival  of  Saint-Louis,  the  Marshal  said  to  his 
pupil  in  the  presence  of  the  multitude  which  thronged  around  the 
"  The  People  Tuileries  :  "  See  !  my  master,  see  all  this  people, 
belong  to  this  gathering  !     All  is  yours  !  "     He  seemed  to 

You  !  "  forget  that  the  lessons  given  to  the  King's  father, 

the  Due  de  Bourgogne,  had  been  very  different."  The  grand- 
son of  Louis  XIV  had  been  taught  that  the  people  did  not 
belong  to  the  King,  but  the  King  to  the  people,  that  he  might 
make  them  happy  by  the  equity,  wisdom,  and  mildness  of  his 

B  17 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

government.  Villeroy  liad  not  read  TcUmaquc  and  was  too 
much  of  a  courtier  to  admire  Fenelon.  He  forgot  the  words 
which  Massillon,  a  few  months  previously,  had  addressed  to 
Louis  himself  before  the  whole  Court :  "  Never,  Sire,  may  you 
efface  from  your  memory  the  wise  maxims  which  that  great 
prince  (Louis  XIV)  bequeathed  to  you  in  his  last  moments  as 
a  heritage  more  precious  than  the  Crown.  He  exhorted  you 
to  lighten  the  burden  of  your  people.  Be  their  father  and  you 
will  be  doubly  their  master." 

The  Regent  was  exasperated  by  the  old  man  who  so  little 
understood  his  duties  ;  consequently  he  resolved  that  as  in 
August  1718,  he  had  abohshed  the  rights  of  the  Due  du  Maine 
to  the  cro\vTi  and  the  superintendence  of  the  royal  education, 
so  he  would  get  rid  of  the  influence  of  Villeroy.  He  had  other 
grievances  against  the  Marshal.  Villeroy  had  spread  slanderous 
reports,  accusing  Louis  XIV  's  nephew  of  having  poisoned  the 
Due  and  Duchesse  de  Bourgogne.  Even  under  the  Regency  he 
had  affected  to  take  precautions,  "  full  of  the  blackest  motives 
of  self-interest,  which  angered  such  as  were  honest,  and  amused 
others,  but  which  impressed  the  people  and  the  fools  and  had 
the  double  effect  of  renewing  the  wicked  reports  which  he  had  so 
carefully  engendered  against  the  Due  d'Orleans,  and  of  making  it 
appear  that  the  safety  and  life  of  the  King  were  dependent  on 
the  care  and  vigilance  of  so  faithful  and  attached  a  Governor."  * 

When  Louis,  in  July  1721,  was  sick  and  kept  his  bed  for 
five  days,  scandal  again  reported  that  he  was  being  poisoned 
and  Villeroy  did  not  hesitate  to  allow  suspicion  to  rest  on 
the  Due  d'Orleans.  More  than  ever  he  posed  as  the  protector 
and  guardian  angel  of  France.  It  was  easy  to  lay  a  trap  for 
Villeroy.  The  Marshal  was  extremely  Jealous  of  his  preroga- 
tives and  did  not  allow  any  one  to  speak  to  the  King  unless  he 
himself  was  present. 

On  Sunday,  August  9,  1722,  at  Versailles,  the  Regent  sub- 
mitted some  business  to  the  King  in  the  presence  of  the  Governor, 
and  afterwards  he  requested  Louis  to  pass  into  his  inner  apart - 
Dismissal  of  ment,  where  he  had  something  to  say  to  him  in 
Villeroy.  private.     Villeroy  objected  to  this,  but  the  Due 

held  to  his  point.     The  King,  he  said,  was  so  nearly  of  the  age 

*  Saint-Simon. 
18 


THE    EDUCATION    OF   LOUIS    XV 

when  he  would  govern  for  himself,  that  it  was  time  for  the 
trustee  of  his  whole  power  to  inform  him  of  matters  which 
could  only  be  explained  to  him  in  private.  The  Marshal  was 
indignant  and  replied  that  he  would  not  allow  his  Royal  Highness 
to  speak  to  the  King  in  private.  Whereupon  the  Regent 
regarded  him  fixedly,  made  a  profound  reverence  to  Louis  and 
left  the  room,  since  he  did  not  wish,  out  of  respect  for  the 
King's  youth,  to  reply  to  Villeroy  as  he  deserved.  On  the  next 
day  the  Marshal  went  to  see  the  Due  in  order  to  make  an 
explanation ;  but  the  Marquis  de  la  Fare,  captain  of  the 
Regent's  guards,  stopped  him  and  demanded  his  sword  ;  at 
the  same  time  the  Comte  d'Artagnan,  captain  of  the  grey 
musketeers,  approached  Villeroy.  He  was  hustled  into  a  sedan 
chair,  shut  in,  and  carried  through  one  of  the  windows  which 
opened  into  the  garden  ;  then  he  was  taken  down  the  staircase 
of  the  Orangery  to  a  coach  and  six.  The  captain  got  in  beside 
Villeroy  ;  in  front  were  an  officer  and  a  gentleman  in  ordinary  ; 
twenty  musketeers  surrounded  the  carriage  t  they  left  at 
full  speed  for  the  castle  of  Villeroy  in  Brie,  situated  eight 
leagues  from  Paris,  where  the  exile  arrived  in  about  three 
hours. 

This  arrest  caused  a  thousand  rumours  ;  it  was  insinuated 
that  the  King  would  not  live  long,  that  he  would  be  poisoned 
and  the  Regent  would  become  Seneschal  of  the  kingdom. 
Villeroy's  complaints  were  so  loud  that  an  official  manifesto 
was  published  for  the  purpose  of  satisfying  the  public.  This 
document  asserted  that  the  Marshal  "  wished  to  assume  a 
royal  authority,  in  order  to  oppose  the  Regency,  as  though  the 
royal  power  could  be  divided.  But  for  these  indiscretions,  which 
do  not  affect  the  probity  of  the  Marshal,  we  could  still  have 
the  pleasure  of  seeing  him  near  the  King  ;  but  good  intentions 
are  not  sufficient  in  important  officials  ;  they  must  know  how 
to  behave  with  tact." 

Louis  was  extremely  displeased.  He  had  a  certain  affection 
for  this  "  grand-papa  "  who  satisfied  all  his  whims.  He  wept 
bitterly,  and  the  more  so  because  his  tutor,  Fleury,  Bishop 
of  Frejus,  left  the  court  on  the  same  day  ;  the  latter  retired 
voluntarily  to  Baville  to  stay  with  the  Lamoignons,  as  soon  as 
he  learnt  of  the  Marshal's  exile,  since  he  considered  himself 

19 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    C  E  N  T  U  R  Y 

indebted  to  him.  lie  was  hastily  recalled,  and  the  Due  d'Orleans 
received  him  with  favour  ;  he  assured  him  that  it  was  to 
spare  his  feelings  that  he  had  not  been  informed  of  the  secret 
arrest  of  Villeroy  ;  he  explained  the  reason  for  the  exile  "  the 
more  freely,  because  Fleury  hated  the  Marshal,  his  pride  and 
jealousies  and  caprices,  and  secretly  rejoiced  at  his  dismissal 
and  at  the  prospect  of  having  the  King  to  himself."  This  is 
Saint-Simon's  account,  but  perhaps  it  should  be  modified  if 
what  Bcrnis  says  is  true.  According  to  the  latter,  the  Regent 
said  to  Fleury  with  his  usual  somewhat  crude  frankness  : 
"  You  have  lost  your  friend,  but  you  will  be  master  of  the 
house  !  (fn'pof)."  Did  Orleans  foresee  the  lofty  destiny  which 
awaited  the  Bishop  ?  Anyhow,  Fleury  yielded  to  his  arguments, 
and  although  he  had  to  submit  to  the  violent  reproaches  of  the 
Marshal,  he  shared  his  hatred  with  the  Due  de  Charost,  Villcroy's 
successor  designate,  with  the  Regent,  and  also  with  the  Abb6 
Dubois,  whose  influence  was  not  wanting  on  this  occasion, 
since  he  saw  in  the  Marshal  an  enemy  to  his  English  policy. 

Fleury  performed  his  functions  conscientiously  ;  he  was 
capable  and  he  did  not  forget  a  single  one  of  his  duties,  as 
Cardinal  Villars  testifies.     It  is  true  that  Bcrnis  gives  an 

Fleury.  amusing  description  of  the  King  putting  his  in- 

structor's grey  hairs  into  curl-papers,  and  Argenson  affirms  that 
Quintus  Curtius  remained  open  at  the  same  page  for  six  months 
while,  instead  of  working,  Fleury  amused  the  child  by  playing 
with  cards.  But  in  the  National  Library  there  are  whole  copy 
books  filled  with  Louis'  work  corrected  in  Fleury 's  handwriting, 
and  these  are  clear  proof  of  his  industry.  The  King  had  lessons 
in  wTiting,  Latin,  and  French  history  every  day,  while  three  days 
a  week  he  studied  geography,  for  which  he  showed  a  pronounced 
taste,  astronomy,  drawing,  mathematics,  and  botany ;  he  remem- 
bered this  last  even  later  in  his  life,  since  he  laid  out  a  garden  at 
Trianon  where  the  horticulturist,  Claude  Richard,  taught  him 
how  to  graft.  The  gardener  was  put  into  communication  with 
Linnaeus  and  sent  him  on  behalf  of  his  Most  Christian  Majesty, 
some  strawberry  seeds  :  "  To  the  most  celebrated  and  most 
noble  M.  de  Linn6,  Knight  of  the  Pole  Star,  chief  physician  to 
the  King,  professor  of  medicine  and  botany  at  Upsala,  associate 
member  of  the  Academy  of  Paris."  Louis,  as  Buvat  relates, 
20 


THE    EDUCATION    OF   LOUIS    XV 

made  great  progress  in  all  these  studies,  with  the  help  of  such 
able  specialists  as  Guillaume  Delisle,  the  greatest  geographer 
of  his  age,  and  Chevalier,  the  eminent  mathematician.  Even 
the  name  of  his  writing  master  has  been  preserved  and  a  small 
engraving  was  published  in  his  honour,  showing  him  beside 
his  pupil,  while  Fleury  and  Madame  de  Ventadour  superintend 
his  work  ;   underneath  is  written  the  following  verse  : 

En  trois  heures  de  temps  le  Roy  S9ait  bien  ecrire  ; 
Par  un  secret  nouveau,  que  toute  le  monde  admire, 
A  lui  seul  Dom  Duchene,  enfant  de  Besan9on 
Sceut  faire  ce  prodige  en  moins  de  six  le9ons.* 

Military  studies  were  not  neglected,  this  branch  being  under 
the  direction  of  Lieutenant-General  Puysegur  and  the  engineer, 
Hermann. 

In  every  case  Louis  distinguished  himself  by  the  excellence 
of  his  memory  and  the  comparative  quickness  of  his  intellect. 
Louis  XV  and  One  day  he  inquired  of  the  Papal  Nuncio,  Benti- 
the  Papal  voglio  : 

Nuncio.  "  Monsieur  le  Nonce,  how  many  Popes  have 

there  been  up  to  the  present  ?  "  The  prelate  hesitated. 
"  You  do  not  know  the  number  of  popes  ?  Why,  I  know  how 
many  monarchs  there  have  been  in  France  before  me."  Where- 
upon he  named  his  predecessors  one  after  the  other  in  chrono- 
logical order. 

Fleury  also  instructed  Louis  in  religious  doctrine,  but  he 
did  not  carry  his  self-sacrifice  far  enough  to  recommend  his 
pupil  to  read  a  book  which  might  have  taught  him  how  to 
govern  wisely  ;  he  had  no  more  appreciation  for  the  principles 
of  Fenelon  than  had  Villeroy.  "  I  was  imprudent  enough," 
wrote  Voltaire,  "  to  inquire  one  day  of  the  Cardinal  de  Fleury, 
whether  he  had  made  the  King  read  Fenelon's  TeUmaque.  He 
replied  that  he  made  him  read  better  works,  and  has  never 
forgiven  me." 

His  particular  care  was  to  develop  in  his  pupil  a  taste  for 
order  and  economy ;  he  was  celebrated  for  his  avarice  and  as 
Prime  Minister  he  managed  the  finances  of  the  State  as  if  he  had 

*  In  three  hours  the  King  learns  how  to  write  ;  by  a  secret  method 
admired  of  all,  with  him  alone  could  Dom  Duchene,  son  of  BesanQon,  work 
this  miracle  in  less  than  six  lessons.  »  ^ 

21 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

to  deal  with  the  small  acounts  of  a  middle-class  establishment, 
though  it  must  be  admitted  that  he  made  it  a  rule  only  to  divert 
to  his  own  profit  enough  to  maintain  a  modest  suite  and  a 
frugal  table.  He  is  a  curious  example  of  the  advancement  of 
plebeians,  which  was  more  common  than  might  be  imagined 
under  the  ancien  regime.  He  was  the  son  of  a  tax-collector 
of  Lod^ve,  and  had  risen  in  the  world  thanks  to  his  handsome 
appearance,  his  ability,  and  his  ambition  ;  he  was  appointed 
Bishop  of  Fr^jus  in  1698,  He  owed  the  position  of  trust  in 
which  he  was  now  placed  to  the  great  King  who  had  nominated 
him  in  his  w^ill.  Such  were  the  beginnings  of  a  brilliant  career 
based  on  the  alTection  which  the  instructor  was  able  to  inspire 
in  his  royal  pupil.  But,  to  repeat  the  just  criticism  of  a  historian, 
Fleury  did  not  seek  to  make  Louis  a  king,  he  sought  to  ensure 
the  place  of  Prime  Minister  for  himself  ;  and  it  is  a  fact  that  he 
was  more  successful  in  that  direction  and  must,  as  well  as 
Villeroy,  be  held  partly  responsible  for  the  troubles  which  were 
in  store  for  France  during  the  new  reign. 

The  Due  de  Charost,  the  Marshal's  successor,  is  best  known 
by  the  letter  which  Villeroy  addressed  to  him  on  learning  of  his 
appointment.  "I  cannot  rejoice,"  he  wrote,  "that  they  have 
given  you  the  place  of  Governor,  because  I  held  this  charge 
at  the  hand  of  the  late  King,  to  whom  I  promised  that  I  would 
never  abandon  His  Majesty.  When  I  sec  that  it  is  out  of  my 
power  to  keep  so  noble  a  promise  given  to  a  great  king  on  his 
deathbed,  I  am  unable  to  identify  myself  with  a  preferment 
which  deprives  me  of  that  honour  and  forces  me  to  break  my 
word."  This  is  the  letter  of  the  magnificent  grand  seigneur  we 
know  ;  but  it  also  shows  us  that  Villeroy  knew  at  least  how 
to  complain  with  tact  and  dignity. 

His  successor  was  recommended  by  the  connexion  he  had 
formerly  had  with  the  circle  of  the  Due  de  Bourgogne,  with 
Villeroy's  Beauvilliers,  Chevreuse  and  Fenelon,  and  as  early 

successor,  as  1712   he  had   been  marked  out   to   fulfil  the 

the  Due  function  ;    consequently  the  Regent's  choice  was 

de  Charost.  justified.  But  the  Due  de  Charost  had  no 
better  knowledge  of  business  than  the  Marshal,  and  his  attain- 
ments were  not  of  the  highest  order.  However,  it  must  be 
realized  that  Louis  was  now  twelve  years  old  and  the  mischief 
22 


THE    EDUCATION    OF   LOUIS    XV 

was  already  done.  All  his  life  the  prince  was  to  bear  the 
traces  of  the  worthless  instruction  of  his  first  Governor.  Gradually 
studies  were  abandoned,  and  riding,  as  a  prelude  to  the  exploits 
of  the  chase,  so  dear  to  the  Bourbons,  superseded  everything 
in  the  education  of  the  young  monarch.  The  Due  de  Charost 
merely  had  to  figure  in  two  ceremonies  ;  the  one  private — the 
first  Communion  on  September  15,  1722  ;  the  other  surrounded 
by  royal  pomp — the  coronation  at  Reims  on  October  25,  1722. 
After  this  ceremony  it  was  noticed  that  Louis  spoke  a  great 
deal ;  he  often  said,  "  I  will."  Mathieu  Marais  recounts  that 
"  he  makes  fun  of  M.  de  Charost  and  M.  de  Frejus.  On  one 
occasion  he  ordered  every  one  to  leave  the  room ;  when  M.  de 
Frejus  remained,  he  told  him  that  the  order  applied  to  him 
as  well  as  to  the  others.  He  rides  often,  shoots  well,  and  is 
devoted  to  play,  even  playing  early  in  the  morning  before 
mass." 

The  only  studies  which  remained  to  him  were  studies  in 
administration  and  politics,  over  which  the  Regent  himself 
Lessons  in  presided.  The  subjects  for  the  King's  instruction 
the  art  of  were  drawn  up   by  able   specialists  :    Le  Dran, 

Government.  chief  of  the  Department  of  Foreign  Affairs ; 
Briquet,  first  Secretary  for  War  ;  Fagon  and  Ormesson,  the 
Intendants  of  Finance.  Louis  was  taught  how  to  govern  ;  it 
remained  for  him  to  take  advantage  of  the  instruction,  dull 
as  it  may  have  been,  and  to  realize  his  position  ;  but  that 
depended  more  on  his  heart  than  his  intelligence.  Before  we 
see  how  he  acquitted  himself  of  his  task,  it  will  be  as  well 
to  review  the  state  in  which  France  was  left  to  him  by  the 
Regent  and  the  Due  de  Bourbon. 

Principal  Sources.  Most  of  the  works  mentioned  at  the  end  of 
the  previous  chapter.  La  Bruyere,  Caracteres  ;  Memoires  of  the  Mar- 
quis d'Argenson,  of  Bernis  and  of  the  Due  de  Richelieu  ;  Duclos,  Memoires 
secrets  de  la  Regence ;  Massillon,  Petit  Careme ;  Albert  Vandal,  Louis  XV  et 
Elisabeth  de  Russie,  1  vol.,  Paris,  1882  ;  Druon,  Histoire  de  VMucation 
des  Princes  dans  la  maison  des  Bourbons  de  France,  2  vols,,  Paris,  1897  ; 
Comte  de  Fleury,  Louis  XV  intime,  1  vol.,  Paris,  1899  ;  Casimir  Stryienski, 
Le  Gendre  de  Louis  XV,  1  vol.,  Paris,  1904. 


23 


CHAPTER  III 

THE  SYSTEM 
1715-1720 

Tlic  Councils.  A  jnrood-naturcd  Prince.  The  Public  Debt. 
Marshal  do  Noaillcs.  The  C'lianihre  dc  Justice.  Lenormand  in 
the  Pillory.  IJctlielot  de  Plciuuf.  John  I^aw.  His  youth. 
His  financial  system.  Foundini^  of  tlic  Hank.  Law  apj)ointcd 
ControlKT-CJciural.  I.cs  im^rcs,  Ics  Jillcs  cf  Ics  ])clites-Jilles.  The 
Hue  Quineanipoix.  The  Parvenus.  The  Conite  de  Horn. 
Poj)ular  anrjer  af^ainst  Law.  Exile  of  the  Parlement.  Plifjlit  of 
Law.  His  destitution.  Results  of  the  bankruptcy.  The  I'liilij)- 
piques  of  Lagrange-Chanccl.    The  plague  at  Marseilles. 

THE  Regent  transformed  the  administration,  taking  his 
inspiration  from  the  Due  de  Bourgognc  and  Fcnclon  ; 
he  instituted  groups  of  couneillors  to  replace  the 
Secretaries  of  State.  In  addition  to  the  Council  of  the  IJegcncy, 
over  which  he  presided,  with  the  princes  of  the  blood-royal  and 
The  Councils,  certain  dukes  and  peers  as  his  colleagues,  he 
created  seven  councils  to  deal  with  war,  finance,  navy,  foreign 
affairs,  home  affairs,  matters  of  conscience  or  ecclesiastical 
affairs,  and  commerce.  This  new  administration  ad'orded  him 
the  disposal  of  numerous  appointments,  besides  giving  satis- 
faction to  his  supporters,  and  seemed  advantageous  from  the 
point  of  view  of  the  public  ;  decisions  were  now  taken  not  on 
the  discretion  of  a  single  individual,  but  after  due  debate  by 
several  people,  many  of  whom,  although  holding  inferior 
positions,  were  able  by  their  intelligence  to  be  of  great  use  to 
the  chief  councillors.  The  Abb6  de  Saint-Pierre,  the  friend  of 
perpetual  peace,  in  his  Discours  sur  la  Pohjsynodic,  has  shown 
how  much  is  to  be  gained  by  such  an  organization.  Put  it 
could  not  last.  It  was  soon  apparent  that  Louis  XIV  had 
been  wise  in  excluding  the  great  nobles  from  a  share  in  the 
government ;  when  they  returned  to  power  at  the  commencc- 
21 


THE    SYSTEM 

merit  of  the  Regency,  they  showed  themselves  incapable  of 
forgetting  their  own  interests,  privileges  and  futile  pretensions, 
incapable  also  of  taking  a  serious  view  of  their  duties  as  states- 
men. The  Councils  were  abolished  in  September  1718,  a  step 
which  was  justified  by  the  disturbance,  slowness,  and  indecision 
that  had  resulted  in  public  affairs,  in  spite  of  the  enthusiasm 
with  which  the  innovation  had  been  received.  Chancellor 
d'Aguesseau,  in  his  harangue  at  Martinmas,  1715,  said  in 
justification  of  the  Due  d'Orl^ans  :  "  Mediocre  intellects  may 
fear  the  Councils,  the  greater  minds  are  among  those  who 
value  them  most  highly ;  in  their  self-reliance  they  are 
not  afraid  to  seem  to  be  governed  by  those  whom  in  reality 
they  govern,  and  disdaining  the  false  honour  of  ruling  by 
virtue  of  their  rank,  they  reign  more  gloriously  by  the 
transcendency  of  their  ability."  There  was  general  relief 
on  the  return  to  the  old  system;  the  Secretaries  of  State 
were  re-established  after  this  unsuccessful  experiment,  which 
on  the  whole  did  honour  to  the  liberal  sentiments  of  Philippe 
d'Orleans. 

Monarchic  power  regained  its  full  strength  ;  but  a  rebellious 
spirit  spread  over  the  intellectual  world  ;  the  Regent  himself 
A  good-  authorized   the   publication   of  Telemaque ;    the 

natured  Prince.  Memoires  of  the  Cardinal  de  Retz  were  published 
in  1717,  at  a  time  when  philosophers  like  Fontenelle,  humorists 
like  Montesquieu,  and  ambitious  men  like  Voltaire  began  to 
show  hitherto  unheard-of  audacity,  and  made  themselves  the 
mouthpieces  of  moral,  religious,  literary  and  political  liberty. 
They  thought  aloud,  relying  on  the  good-nature  of  a  prince 
who  in  his  heart  agreed  with  them,  while  preserving  an  outward 
respect  for  tradition.  When  the  Due  d'Orleans  went  to  Mass 
he  took  a  volume  of  Rabelais  disguised  as  a  prayer-book  ; 
when  he  exiled  the  Parlement,  he  softened  the  exile  by  fur- 
nishing sufficient  money  for  the  necessities  and  even  the 
pleasures  of  the  members  in  retirement  at  Pontoise ;  this 
town  became  a  pleasant  place,  where  folks  dined  well  in  company 
with  people  of  quality  who  came  daily  from  Paris  ;  the  road 
to  Pontoise  was  as  much  frequented  as  that  to  Versailles,  and 
as  Duclos  wittily  remarked,  it  probably  would  not  have  been 
impossible  to  take  the  Regent  himself  there. 

25 


\ 


TIIK    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

The  Due  d'Orleans,  as  we  have  seen,  was  under  a  serions 
obligation  to  the  Parlcmcnt  ;  he  had  aceordingly  given  a  ecrtain 
The  National  share  of  authority  to  that  Assembly,  until  he 
Debt.  began  to  realize  that  the  royal  power  would  be 

compromised  by  the  attempt  of  the  delegates  to  assume  the 
part  of  fathers  of  the  people.  This  was  one  of  the  reasons 
which  induced  the  prince  to  treat  them  with  severity  ;  another 
reason  was  the  opposition  that  the  Assembly  made  to  his 
financial  reforms.  The  most  oppressive  heritage  left  by 
Louis  XIV  was  the  National  Debt — it  had  risen  to  90,000,000 
livres,  representing  practically  the  arrears  of  four  years.  At 
the  head  of  the  Council  of  Finance  was  the  Marshal  de  Villcroy, 
who  was  there  by  virtue  of  his  ofTice  of  Governor.  With 
Villcroy  was  Adricn-Maurice,  Marshal  de  Noaillcs.  Saint- 
Simon  has  drawn  his  portrait  with  a  pen  dipped  in  gall ;  he 
could  never  pardon  Noaillcs  for  having  married  Fran9oise 
d'Aubign6,  Madame  de  Maintcnon's  niece  ;  moreover,  he  was 
politically  opposed  to  him. 

^**  It  is  certain  that  Noaillcs  was  not  a  great  man,  but  to  repre- 
sent him  as  a  "  demon,"  a  "  replica  of  the  serpent  which  tempted 
Marshal  de  Eve,"  was  somewhat  of  an  exaggeration.  The 
Noailles.  Marshal  had  had  the  confidence  of  Louis  XIV  ; 

he  had  been  intrusted  with  the  monarch's  most  precious  docu- 
ments, among  others  his  licjlcxlons  sur  Ic  Metier  de  Hoi ;  and 
he  continued,  like  a  true  Nestor  of  the  monarchy,  to  act  as 
counsellor  to  Louis  XV  until  the  reversal  of  the  alliances  in 
1756,  which  destroyed  French  traditions,  and  made  it  im- 
possible for  an  old  servant  to  follow  the  new  direction  of  afTairs. 

Under  the  Regency,  Noailles  was  conspicuous  for  his  opposi- 
tion to  the  declaration  of  bankruptcy  proposed  by  Saint-Simon, 
which  was  to  free  Louis  XV  from  the  debts  incurred  by  his 
great-grandfather.  "  France  would  never  have  recovered  from 
the  })low,"  said  Noailles,  in  a  minute  addressed  to  the  Due 
d'Orleans  ;  "  for,  besides  the  extreme  injustice  of  such  an 
action,  the  injury  caused  both  to  commerce  and  to  public 
credit  would  be  prejudicial  to  us  both  in  the  eyes  of  foreigners 
and  of  subjects  of  the  realm  ;  one  may  truthfully  say  that  the 
only  fruit  we  could  gather  from  it  would  be  shame  and  eternal 
disgrace."  The  Marshal  triumphed,  but  he  was  less  successful, 
26 


THE    SYSTEM 

V  when,  following  the  example  of  Sully  and  Richelieu,  he  resorted 
to  a  Chambre  de  Justice  in  order  to  compel  the  financiers— the 
contractors  stigmatized  by  Lesages  in  his  Turcaret  (1709) — 
to  restore  the  illegal  profits  extorted  from  the  public  pocket 
and  from  the  taxpayer.  The  inquiry  was  to  extend  as  far  back 
as  1689,  twenty-seven  years  before,  while  the  edict  was  so 
vaguely  worded  that  no  one  could  be  certain  of  its  application. 
The  result  was  that  people  who  had  originally  praised  its  severity 
were  soon  brought  to  tremble  for  their  own  safety. 

This  Court  was  installed  at  the  Grands -Augustins  and  con- 
tinued its  functions  for  about  a  year  ;  it  did  a  great  deal  of  harm 
The '  hambre  and  little  good ;  as  Saint-Simon  remarked  : 
de  Justice.  "  the  harm  consisted  in  the  notorious  subterfuges, 
the  concealments,  the  flights  and  the  total  discredit  of  officials 
to  which  it  gave  rise  ;  the  little  or  nothing  of  good  in  the  large 
returns  of  taxation  which  were  made  and  the  pernicious  means 
employed  to  obtain  them."  The  nation  became  tired  of  the 
prosecutions  which  caused  commerce  to  flag,  and  gave  rise  to 
scenes  like  the  one  of  which  Buvat  has  recorded  the  details. 
One  Lenormand  was  condemned  to  pay  twenty  thousand  livres 
as  damages  to  the  Community  of  Arts  and  Crafts  for  his 
exactions,  and  a  hundred  thousand  livres  to  the  King.  He 
was  compelled  to  do  penance  for  his  conduct  at  the  door  of 
the  church  of  Notre-Dame,  at  the  Augustins  and  at  the  Halle  ; 
finally,  he  was  condemned  to  the  galleys  for  life,  after  being 
exposed  in  the  pillory,  where,  with  bare  feet  and  head,  clad 
only  in  his  shirt,  and  holding  a  lighted  torch  in  his  hand,  he 
had  to  submit  to  the  insults  of  the  people.  A  placard  bearing 
in  large  letters  "  Robber  of  the  People  "  was  attached  to  the 
unfortunate  man's  chest  and  excited  the  gibes  of  the  multitude. 
The  financiers  were  hunted  out ;  some  of  them  surrendered 
to  the  summons  ;  others,  like  Berthelot  de  Pleneuf ,  father  of  the 
Marquise  de  Prie,  placed  the  frontier  between  them  and  their 
pursuers,  but  all  were  deprived  of  their  goods,  often  justly. 
Berthelot  de  Pleneuf  especially  had  a  heavy  load  on  his  con- 
science. He  had  been  a  provision  contractor,  and  had  not 
contented  himself  with  the  enormous  profits  he  was  enabled  to 
make,  but  had  robbed  the  public  funds,  his  method  being  to 
allow  the  soldiers  in  the  army  hospitals  to  die  of  hunger,  while 

27 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

entering  their  keep  in  his  bogus  account-books  ;  when  the 
unfortunate  men  died  he  represented  them  as  living  and  drew  , 
the  money  for  their  support.  But  while  Lenormand  was  sub-  " 
jccted  to  needless  insults,  the  more  adroit  Berthclot  de  Pleneuf 
was  able  to  return  to  France  in  1719,  and  was  appointed  extra- 
ordinary Treasurer-General  for  war.  Surely  this  crying  in- 
justice warrants  the  strictures  of  Saint-Simon  against  this 
Chambre  de  Justice,  which  went  as  far  so  to  pronounce  the 
death-sentence  on  Paparel  and  others.  On  this  occasion  the 
Regent  exercised  his  right  of  pardon,  and  commuted  the  penalty ; 
he  desired  to  see  retribution  fall  on  the  pockets  of  those  who  had 
robbed  the  people,  and  thought  them  sufficiently  punished  by 
the  loss  of  their  ill-gotten  gains.  The  very  severity  of  its  judg- 
ments condemnedthis  tribunal,  which  was  also  calledthe  Chambre 
Ardente !  The  Chancellor,  in  the  speech  he  made  on  the 
occasion  of  its  abrogation,  very  justly  said  :  "  You  are  aware 
that  even  remedies  may  become  evils  when  they  last  too  long.  .  . 
The  people  easily  change  from  excessive  hate  to  excessive 
compassion  ;  they  like  the  spectacle  of  speedy  and  severe 
chastisement,  but  their  mood  does  not  last,  and  once  the  first 
outburst  of  indignation  against  the  guilty  dies  down,  they  almost 
come  to  believe  them  innocent,  when  they  sec  them  long  in 
misery." 

What  was  necessary  was  to  recover  the  money  hidden  in 
the  strong  boxes  in  France  and  abroad,  and  to  re-establish  tlic 
monetary  circulation  ;  so  far  the  Chambre  de  Justice  succeeded. 
A  satirical  engraving.  The  Squeezer  of  the  King's  Sponges,  shows 
us  the  victims  of  the  Chambre  de  Justice  vomiting  streams  of 
gold  ;  it  is  ornamented  by  the  following  legend  : 

Ces  sangsucs  icy  prcssoirez 
Sont  les  pirates  de  la  France 
Qui  regorgcnt  Ics  flots  dorcz 
De  nos  tr(^sors,  en  abondancc* 

The  time  had  now  come  to  consider  seriously  a  reorganiza- 
tion of  the  finances  ;  in  this  matter  the  Due  de  Noailles  gave 
John  Law.  up  his  place  nominally  to  Argenson,  but  in  reality 
to  a  foreigner,  John  Law,  of  Lauriston,  who  was  to  have  an 

*  The  leeches  here  squeezed  are  the  rol)bers  of  France,  vomiting  in 
abundance  the  golden  streams  of  our  Treasure. 
28 


THE    SYSTEM 

important  effect  on  the  Regent's  conduet  of  affairs.  Philippe, 
intelligent  as  he  was,  relied  on  others  ;  he  was  a  man  of  swift 
determinations,  but  owing  to  his  laek  of  energy,  he  was  quickly 
discouraged.  He  was  feeble  and  jaded  by  pleasure  and  allowed 
himself  to  be  influenced.  In  the  early  success  of  the  System 
he  found  a  sort  of  justification  for  his  attitude  and  a  direct 
advantage,  inasmuch  as  it  enabled  him  to  appear  generous  and 
prodigal  to  all.  Unfortunately  he  could  not  foresee  that  the 
private  interest  of  the  reckless  financier  would  make  him  forget 
the  interests  of  the  kingdom. 

Law  came  from  Scotland.  Through  his  mother,  Jean 
Campbell,  he  was  descended  from  the  Dukes  of  Argyll.  He  was 
born  in  1671,  and  at  his  birth  his  father  was  carrying  on  the 
business  of  goldsmith  and  banker  at  Edinburgh.  Law  received 
a  good  education,  and  while  still  young  showed  a  pronounced 
taste  for  scientific  study.  He  came  into  the  management  of 
his  father's  fortune  early  in  his  life,  and  made  use  of  it  in  order 
to  see  the  world,  scorning  to  follow  the  lucrative  career  to  which 
he  owed  his  wealth. 

Tall,  handsome,  and  pleasing  of  appearance,  he  had  all  the 
gifts  which  are  necessary  to  success.  London  was  his  first  stage, 
and  there  his  success  was  remarkable,  and  his  expenditure 
enormous.  But  in  spite  of  his  ample  income,  and  his  winnings 
at  the  gaming  table,  winnings  which  were  perfectly  honest  and 
due  to  his  extraordinary  talent  for  figures,  Law  was  soon  over- 
whelmed with  debts  which  were  paid  by  his  mother.  As  the 
result  of  a  sword  duel  in  which  he  killed  his  adversary,  he 
was  condemned  to  death ;  he  was  pardoned  and  confined 
to  prison,  whence  he  escaped  to  sea. 

He  arrived  on  the  Continent  and  waited  his  opportunity ; 
his  head  was  full  of  projects,  but  he  was  still  too  young  to  have 
had  sufficient  experience.  In  Holland  he  studied  the  system 
of  the  famous  bank  of  Amsterdam ;  then  he  returned  to  Scotland, 
hoping  that  he  would  be  able  to  put  into  practice  his  system  of 
credit,  founded  on  the  creation  of  a  new  currency — banknotes 
and  paper  money,  much  as  they  exist  to-day. 

Law  has  often  been  represented  as  an  adventurer,  but  in 
reality  he  was  a  pioneer,  and,  in  some  degree,  the  ancestor  of 
the  modern  financier  ;   the  majority  of  his  ideas  have  found  a 

29 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

j)lacc  in  modern  banking.  His  mistake  lay  in  his  belief  that 
the  prosperity  of  a  nation  depended  on  the  quantity  of  currency, 
and  that  this  quantity  could  be  increased  at  discretion,  whereas 
the  establishment  of  banks  should  be  the  result  of  prosperity. 
To  borrow  an  "  illustration  "  from  Thiers  who  has  given  so 
clear  an  account  of  the  famous  System  :  "  Supposing,"  says  the 
great  economist,  "  one  were  to  cover  a  desert  island  with  all  the 
gold  of  the  Americas  or  all  the  paper  of  the  Bank  of  England, 
one  could  not  immediately  cause  the  growth  of  roads,  canals, 
cultivation,  factories,  in  fact,  industry."  Law  failed,  but  his 
initial  error  was  to  a  certain  extent  aggravated  by  the  fever  of 
speculation  and  jobbing  which  affected  every  class,  from  the 
greatest  nobles,  like  the  Prince  de  Conti  or  the  Due  dc  la  Force, 
to  the  lower  orders  and  the  lackeys. 

Law's  fellow-countrymen  would  not  listen  to  him  ;  so  he 
again  left  the  shores  of  Scotland  and  went  first  to  Brussels  and 
then  to  Paris.  He  made  the  acquaintance  of  the  future  Regent, 
who  was  struck  by  the  novelty  of  his  ideas  and  received  Iiim 
warmly.  Louis  XIV  would  not  allow  "this  Huguenot  "  to  be 
mentioned  in  his  presence.  In  the  interval  Law  won  at  the 
gaming-tables,  and  the  nobles  of  the  Court  lost  enormous  sums 
to  him  ;  in  consequence  he  was  suspected,  and  was  ordered  to 
quit  Paris  within  twenty-four  hours.  He  was  next  seen  in 
Italy,  at  Genoa,  Venice,  and  Turin,  where  he  lent  money  to  the 
Due  de  Vendome,  who  was  always  his  staunch  protector  ;  he 
had  interviews  with  Victor  Amadcus,  King  of  Sicily  and  Duke 
of  Savoy,  and  with  the  Emperor  Charles  VI,  but  he  was  always 
rebuffed,  and  returned  to  Scotland  with  a  fortune  of  eighty 
thousand  pounds.  This  sum  he  sent  over  into  France,  hoj)ing 
eventually  to  fmd  that  country  favourable  to  the  realization 
of  his  system.  When  Louis  XIV  died,  and  the  royal  power  was 
in  the  hands  of  the  Due  d'Orl^ans,  the  finances  were  in  a  de- 
plorable condition,  and  Law's  time  had  come. 

The  Regent  was  already  on  his  side,  but  for  a  long  time  he 
was  kept  in  suspense.  However,  on  October  24, 1715,  he  made 
Law's  Bank.  the  first  exposition  of  his  principles  to  the  Council  ; 
all  the  revenues  of  the  King  were  to  be  paid  into  his  Bank  ; 
those  to  whom  money  was  due  from  the  State  were  only  to  receive 
paper  money  from  the  royal  Treasury  (consisting  of  notes  for 
ten,  one  hundred  and  one  thousand  crowns)  for  which  they  could 
30 


THE    SYSTEM 

immediately  receive  the  value  by  going  to  the  Bank  ;  -^no  one 
was  bound  to  keep  them  or  to  receive  them  commercially  ;    but 
Law  demonstrated  that  every  one  would  be  content  to  have    / 
the  notes  instead  of  coin  "  because  of  the  ease  with  which  pay- 
ments could  be  made  in  paper,  and  the  certainty  of  receiving  pay- 
ment for  them  whenever  it  was  desired, "/adding  "that  it  would  _J 
be  impossible  to  have  more  notes  than  coin,  since  notes  could 
only  be  issued  in  proportion  to  the  coin,  and  thus  the  expenses  - — 
of  remittance,  the  risks  of  carriage,  of  transport  from  one  town 
to  another,  and  the  multiplication  of  clerks,  would  be  avoided. '*^  -.J^, 

Law  had  not  yet  won  his  case  ;  the  Bank  was  not  established  - 
until  some  months  later  by  the  edict  of  May  2,  1716.  The 
popularity  of  the  establishment  is  well  known  ;  the  curious 
flocked  there  in  crowds  ;  this  new  house  of  credit,  established 
first  in  the  old  Hotel  de  Mesmes,  in  the  Rue  Sainte-Avoye,  and 
later  at  the  Hotel  Mazarin,  in  the  Rue  Vivienne,  now  the  Bibho- 
theque  Nationale,  offered  a  novel  spectacle.  People  entered  a 
vast  hall  divided  into  counting-houses  in  which  gold  and  silver 
abounded  ;  in  exchange  for  a  note  they  reqeived  coin  ;  but 
later  they  came  to  exchange  coin  for  notes,  \yiiich  were  popular 
since  they  were  found  so  convenient  for  business  transactions. 
In  less  than  a  year  the  bitterest  enemies  of  the  Scottish  financier 
were  convinced,  for  the  results  which  he  had  foretold  seemed 
for  the  most  part  to  be  realized.  In  April  1717,  the  Bank  opened 
branches  in  the  provinces.  At  first  notes  were  only  issued  to 
the  extent  of  six  million  francs  ;  fifty  or  sixty  millions  might 
have  been  issued  without  shaking  the  public  confidences  in  the 
least.  Everything  was  going  well,  but  Law  was  impatient,  \ 
and  so  were  the  people  he  had  enriched.  Following  this  | 
prosperous  venture  other  speculations  were  tried — ^with  dis-  / 
astrous  effects.  The  Bank  was  declared  the  Royal  Bank  on 
May  4,  1718  ;  Law  became  master  of  the  public  revenues,  on 
the  one  hand  encouraging,  by  means  of  a  stock  commonly  called 
Mississippi  Stock,  the  colonial  trade,  in  which  he  was  assisted 
by  great  companies,  on  the  other  hand  taking  over  the  whole 
Law  farming  of  the  revenue,  including  that  of  tobacco, 

Controller-         the  privilege  of  coining  money,  and  the  collection 
General.  of  taxes.      After  his  conversion  to  Catholicism, 

which  was  brought  about  by  the  Abbe  Tencin,  he  was  appointed 
Controller-General. 

31 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

He  was  all-powerful,  and  according  to  a  picturesque  ex- 
pression of  Saint-Simon,  he  possessed  in  his  paper  a  tap  of 
finance  which  he  allowed  to  run  on  any  who  would.  His  son 
was  invited  to  dance  in  the  King's  ballet  ;  but  owing  to  small- 
pox he  missed  the  honour.  Even  a  duchess  courted  Law,  one 
of  them  so  far  forgetting  herself  as  to  kiss  his  hand.  Every 
stratagem  was  tried  to  obtain  an  interview  with  him  ;  one  lady 
ordered  her  carriage  to  be  driven  past  the  Scotsman's  house, 
and  when  she  arrived  there  she  was  heard  to  shout  to  the  coach- 
man, "  Upset,  you  fool,  upset  !  "  The  coachman  obeyed  ; 
the  financier  hastened  to  her  assistance,  and  the  lady  admitted 
the  accident  had  been  designed  to  procure  an  interview  with 
him.  He  was  for  ever  in  demand,  and  besieged  by  petitioners. 
"  Law,"  says  Saint-Simon,  "  saw  them  force  his  doors,  enter 
from  the  garden  through  the  windows,  or  tumble  down  the 
chimney  into  his  room."  Madame  Palatine  also  recounts  that 
her  son,  the  Regent,  required  a  duchess  to  attend  his  daughter, 
the  Princess  of  Modena,  and  a  courtier  said  to  him,  "  If  you 
wish,  sir,  to  have  your  choice  of  duchesses,  send  to  Madame 
Law  ;   you  will  find  them  all  collected  there." 

There  was  nothing  derogatory  on  the  part  of  the  great  noble- 
men in  mixing  in  the  affairs  of  the  Bank  and  the  companies, 
since  the  Due  d 'Orleans  himself  had  decreed  it.  Matters  came 
to  such  a  pass  that  the  fictitious  value  of  the  paper  in  1719 
represented  eighty  times  the  coin  in  circulation  in  the  kingdom, 
for  the  jobbers  succeeded  in  raising  the  value  of  every  kind  of 
stock  issued  by  the  Royal  Bank.  These  stocks  were  called  first 
the  mcrcfi,  then  the  Jilles,  and  the  pctites-fillcs  (mothers,  daughters, 
and  grand-daughters)  ;  these  last  could  only  be  bought  at  the 
price  of  four  mcrcs  and  one  fillc,  because  of  the  successive 
premiums. 

The  Bourse  was  established  in  the  Rue  Quincampoix,  where 
the  crowd  was  so  great  that  horses  and  carriages  could  not  be 
The  Rue  Quin-  allowed  there,  and  guards  were  placed  at  either 
campoix.  end  of  the  street,  while  drummers  and  men  with 

bells  were  stationed  to  announce  the  opening  of  business  at 
seven  in  the  morning,  and  to  clear  the  premises  in  the  evening. 
The  madness  which  })revailed  was  without  parallel  ;  it  was 
even  difTicult  to  guard  the  entry  of  the  narrow  street  on  Sundays 
82 


/ 


THE    SYSTEM 

and  holidays.  Paris  was  filled  with  strangers  attracted  by 
the  desire  for  gain  ;  in  1719,  it  held  250,000  more  people  than 
in  preceding  years.  Rooms  had  to  be  built  above  the  attics 
to  accommodate  them.  The  end,  however,  was  approaching. 
The  bank  was  on  a  solid  foundation,  the  Mississippi  scheme 
was  merely  a  chimera  "  a  continual  catch  {tour  de  passe  passe) 
to  attract  the  money  of  some  and  give  it  to  others  ;  it  was 
absolutely  certain  that  in  the  end  these  stocks  would  fail,  ^A'--  ^'] 
since  there  was  neither  mine  nor  philosopher's  stone,  and  that 
the  few  would  find  themselves  enriched  at  the  expense  of  the 
total  ruin  of  the  greater  number  ;  and  this  is  what  happened."* 
Panic  seized  the  speculators,  shareholders  wished  to  realize. 
The  Prince  de  Conti  sent  three  wagons  to  the  bank,  and  they 
returned  full  of  coin  in  exchange  for  his  "  paper."  The  till  was 
soon  empty.  The  authorities  had  recourse  to  extreme  measures. 
No  one  was  allowed  to  have  in  his  house  more  than  five  hundred 
francs  in  specie  or  to  wear  diamonds.  The  following  was  a 
rhyme  sung  in  the  streets  of  Paris  at  this  time  : 

Lundi,  j'achetai  des  actions 
Mardi,  je  gagnai  des  millions 
Mercredi,  j'ornai  mon  menage 
Jeudi,  je  pris  un  equipage 
Vendredi,  je  m'en  fus  au  bal 
Et  Samedi,  a  FhopitaLf 

Positions  were  reversed,  servants  were  enriched,  while  noble- 
men put  their  houses  up  for  sale. 

One  lackey  gained  enough  to  buy  a  carriage  ;  when  the 
carriage  was  brought  to  him  he  forgot  he  was  the  master  and 

„,    „  mounted  behind.     His  servant  exclaimed,  "  Oh  ! 

The  Parvenus,    iv  ,    n/r       •  .i  •  i  ?»      «  au  f 

la  !    Monsieur,  the  carriage  is  yours  !  Ah  ! 

true  !  "  he  said,  "  I  did  not  remember." 

Some  ladies  of  quality  saw  a  finely  dressed  woman,  whom 

none  of  them  knew,  descend  from  a  smart  carriage,  and  sent  to 

ask  the  coachman  who  she  was.     "  She  is  a  lady,"  he  replied 

grinning,  "  who  has  fallen  into  this  carriage  from  the  fourth 

*  Saint-Simon. 

f  Monday,  I  bought  shares  ;  Tuesday,  I  won  millions  ;  Wednesday, 
I  furnished  my  house  ;  Thursday,  I  bought  a  carriage  ;  Friday,  I  was  at 
the  ball ;  and  Saturday  at  the  poorhouse. 

C  33 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

storey."  She  was  just  a  parvenu  like  Madame  B6jon's  servant. 
Madame  B6jon  and  her  daughter  saw  their  cook  in  a  box  at 
the  opera  ;  they  could  not  believe  their  eyes  ;  "  It  is  Marie,  our 
cook  "  said  they.  The  young  people  in  the  amphitheatre  took 
up  the  cry,  "  Marie  the  Cook  !  Marie  the  Cook !  "  Where- 
upon the  cordon-blcu  rose  and  addressed  her  former  mistress  : 
"  Yes,  madamc,  I  am  Marie,  the  cook  ;  I  have  made  money  at 
the  Hue  Quincampoix ;  I  am  fond  of  fine  clothes  ;  I  have  bought 
pretty  dresses  and  I  have  paid  for  them  ;  can  you  say  the  same 
for  yours  ?  " 

The  comedy  is  amusing,  but  there  were  also  tragedies.  A 
young  Comte  de  Horn,  of  a  noble  Flanders  house,  allied  to  many 
The  Comte  of  the  prmcely  families  of  Europe,  murdered  a 
de  Horn.  clerk  of  the  Bank  at  the  "  Ep6e  de  Bois  "  Inn 

in  the  Rue  de  Venise,  near  the  Rue  Quincampoix  ;  he  had  lost 
a  great  deal  of  money  at  the  fair  of  Saint-Germain  and 
recouped  himself  by  robbing  the  clerk.  Hoping  to  conceal 
his  crime  he  ran,  bloodstained  as  he  was,  to  the  house  of  the 
Police  Commissary,  and  affirmed  that  an  attempt  had  been 
made  to  kill  him.  The  Commissary  replied,  "  You  come  here, 
monsieur,  all  covered  with  blood,  yet  you  are  not  wounded, 
I  shall  arrest  you."  He  had  two  accomplices  who  were  smitten 
with  remorse  and  confessed.  Judgment  was  pronounced 
without  delay.  The  relatives  of  the  culprit  made  elTorts,  not 
to  save  his  life,  but  to  secure  that  he  should  not  be  executed  in 
public,  but  should  be  beheaded  privately  in  the  prison.  The 
Regent  was  inflexible.  Doubtless  it  cost  him  an  ell'ort  to  do 
violence  to  his  own  kindness  of  heart,  but  the  fact  that  he  had 
not  yielded  made  him  popular.  He  told  his  mother  that  when 
the  Comte  de  Horn  was  broken  on  the  wheel  people  said  :  "  If 
an>'thing  is  done  against  our  Regent,  personally,  he  pardons  all, 
but  if  anything  is  done  against  ourselves,  he  is  not  to  be  trifled 
with,  but  gives  us  justice  as  is  seen  in  the  case  of  this  Comte 
dc  Horn."     In  recounting  this  the  Duke's  eyes  were  moist. 

The  agitation  in  Paris  was  extreme  ;  on  July  17,  1720,  the 
crowd  before  the  Bank  in  the  Rue  Vivienne,  all  seeking  their 
Popular  fury  money,  was  so  great  that  sixteen  people  were 
against  Law.  stifled.  Law  ventured  outside,  and  as  he  passed 
the  little  market  of  Quinze-Vingts,  a  woman  threw  herself 
84 


THE    SYSTEM 

before  the  door  of  his  carriage  and  demanded  her  husband 
who  had  just  been  killed.  As  pale  as  death,  he  went  on  foot 
to  the  Palais  Royal  where  he  found  refuge  and  remained  for 
several  days  under  the  protection  of  the  Due  d'Orleans.  The 
carriage  went  home  ;  the  crowd  believing  that  the  financier 
was  returning,  flung  stones  at  the  vehicle  and  the  coachman 
was  wounded  : 

"  Messieurs,  Messieurs,  grande  nouvelle, 
Le  carosse  de  Law  est  r^duite  en  canelle  !  "  * 

said  the  President  de  Mesmes,  at  the  Duchesse  du  Maine's,  in 
the  tragic  tones  he  assumed  in  the  theatre  of  Sceaux.  His 
colleagues  asked  about  the  man  himself.  "  He  was  not  inside." 
"  So  much  the  worse,"  was  the  reply. 

On  the  same  day  there  was  a  sharp  struggle  between  the 
Parlement  and  the  Regency,  the  former  refusing  to  register  an 
The  Parlement  edict  purporting  to  grant  fresh  monopolies  to  the 
exiled.  Mississippi    company ;     consequently    lettres    de 

cachet  were  issued  to  each  president  and  councillor  of  the 
Parlement,  ordering  them  to  quit  Paris  within  forty-eight 
hours  and  retire  to  Pontoise.  Little  excitement  was  caused 
by  this  event,  as  the  financial  disaster  eclipsed  everything. 
The  musketeers  had  been  summoned,  but  they  were  not  needed, 
and  remained  in  the  halls  of  the  Palais  drinking  and  amusing 
themselves  with  the  trial  of  a  cat,  with  pleadings  and  forma] 
condemnation,  reviving  the  scenes  of  Les  Plaideurs. 

Law  was  obliged  to  take  to  flight  to  escape  the  hatred  of  the 

Parisians  who,  after  damaging  his  carriage,  broke  the  windows 

„,.,,„_  of  his  house.  He  was  guarded  on  his  departure. 
Flight  of  Law.         ,,  ,  X.    J'    •    \T     ■      •    -.^r./^-        • 

and  he  went  away  to  die  m  Venice  in  1729  m  misery 

and  destitution.  When  he  took  his  leave  of  the  Regent  he  said  to 

him,  "  Monseigneur,  I  have  made  some  great  mistakes  ;   I  have 

made  them  because  I  am  mortal ;   but  in  my  conduct  you  will 

find  neither  malice  nor  roguery."     He  wrote  in  exile  to  the 

Due  de  Bourbon  :    "  iEsop  was  a  model  of  probity  ;    yet  the 

courtiers  accused  him  of  possessing  treasures  in  a  coffer  which 

he  often  visited  ;    all  they  found  in  it  was  a  coat  he  had  had 

before  he  had  gained  the  prince's  favour.     If  I  had  saved  my 

*  Gentlemen  !     Great  news  !     Law's  coach  is  reduced  to  splinters. 

85 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

coat,  I  would  not  change  my  place  with  those  who  arc  in  the 
first  positions  ;  but  I  am  naked  ;  they  seem  to  expect  me  to 
exist  with  nothing,  and  to  pay  my  debts  without  having  any 
funds."  Law  never  recovered  the  coat  he  claimed.  lie 
justified  the  remark  of  La  Bruy6re  :  "  If  the  financier  fails 
the  courtiers  say  of  him  :  he ,  is  a  bourgeois,  a  nobody,  an 
ill-bred  person  ;  if  he  succeeds,  they  ask  him  for  his  daughter." 
By  a  curious  irony  of  fate,  at  the  very  moment  of  the  bank- 
ruptcy, the  Regent  was  presented  with  a  vignette  placed  at 
the  head  of  the  dedicatory  epistle  of  the  third  edition  of 
the  Diciionnairc  dc  Bayle.  It  showed  his  portrait,  after 
Rigaud,  supported  by  Mercury,  while  Minerva  pointed  it  out 
for  universal  admiration.  On  the  left  was  portrayed  France, 
sorrowful  and  afllicted,  bearing  an  empty  cornucopia  from  which 
some  pieces  of  money  had  fallen  ;  on  the  right  the  Royal 
Bank,  triumphant,  with  genii  bearing  a  conch  full  of  gold,  and 
near  them  a  small  negro  with  a  map  of  the  Mississippi,  the 
source  of  all  this  wealth  !  Eulogy  had  turned  to  satire,  and  the 
public  was  amused  to  read  the  following  words  of  the  acade- 
mician, La  Motte,  who  wrote  the  dedicatory  epistle  :  "  Your 
justice  and  your  goodness  have  enabled  you  to  fmd,  for  the 
payment  of  the  debts  of  the  State  and  the  bestowal  of  fresh 
treasures,  the  mighty  resources  which  astonish  the  nations, 
and  of  which  they  would  be  jealous,  but  that  your  own  equity, 
and  that  which  they  may  expect  from  our  young  monarch, 
who  is  being  schooled  in  your  example,  re-assures  them  as  to 
your  might."  This  dithyramb  arrived  at  a  truly  opportune 
moment !  The  Regent,  who  was  a  man  of  wit,  did  not  keep 
the  copy  in  his  library. 

Everji:hing  was  not  lost  in  this  disaster.  Though  Law 
has  left  the  memory  of  a  financier  at  bay,  crazed  by  specula- 
tion, it  must  not  be  forgotten,  that  as  Controller-General 
he  made  wise  reforms,  diminished  the  taxes,  lightened  the 
burden  which  weighed  on  the  people,  and  even  anticipated 
Turgot  in  an  attempt  to  faciHtate  the  distribution  of  corn. 
He  prepared  the  way  for  the  economists,  and  supplied  an 
example  of  the  power  of  credit. 

But  the  immediate  consequences  of  the  bankruptcy  were 
disastrous  ;  to  the  lucky  Mississippians,  favoured  by  fortune 
86 


THE    SYSTEM 

and  not  their  own  efforts,  it  meant  an  unnatural  life,  a  life  of 
luxury  and  pleasure,  of  fetes  often  degenerating  into  orgies 
which,  equally  with  the  suppers  given  by  the  Regent  and  his 
routs,  lowered  the  moral  standard  of  the  nation.  Men  sought 
after  riches  as  before  they  had  sought  after  glory  and  honour, 
and,  in  this  wild  pursuit,  the  different  classes  began  to  forget 
their  respective  traditions. 

The  financial  problem  was  not  solved.  Matters  were  placed 
in  the  hands  of  the  Paris  brothers,  who  were  bankers  to  the  State 
for  many  years.  Then  a  return  was  made  to  the  system  of  / 
Farmers-General,  who  leased  the  collection  of  taxes.  But 
during  the  whole  of  the  eighteenth  century,  the  public  debt 
was  far  in  excess  of  the  receipts  and  the  financial  embarrass- 
ment was  extreme. 

In  1720 — the  inauspicious  year  of  the  Regency — the  cele- 
The  Philip-  brated  Philippiques  appeared,  in  which  Lagrange- 
piques  of  Chancel,  a  hired  satirist,  perverted  history  and 

Lagrange-  dragged    Philippe    d' Orleans    in    the    mud    with 

Chancel.  ridiculous  exaggeration. 

A  more  serious  scourge  fell  on  Provence,  and  Marseilles 
especially  ;  for  a  whole  year  a  pestilence  desolated  that  fair 
The  Plague  at  country.  The  occasion  gave  birth  to  deeds  of 
Marseilles.  great    devotion.     Monseigneur    de    Belzunce,    at 

the  head  of  his  clergy,  showed  an  example  of  heroism  rivalling 
that  of  Carlo  Borromeo  at  Milan.  He  was  supported  by  the 
sheriffs,  Estelle  and  Moustier,  and  by  the  Chevalier  de  Roze. 
Many  saw  in  this  calamity  a  divine  visitation. 

Pbincipal  Sources.  Fenelon,  Ecrits  politiques,  T^ldmaque  ;  Presi- 
dant  Henault,  Mdmoires ;  Memoirs  and  correspondence  previously 
quoted  ;  Correspondance  de  Louis  XV  et  du  Mardchal  de  Noailles,  edited 
by  Camille  Rousset  (2  vols.,  Paris,  1869)  ;  Thiers,  Histoire  de  Law  (1  vol., 
Paris,  n.d.) 


87 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE  TWO  CARDINALS 
1716-1723 

Dubois.  The  second  marriage  of  Philip  V  of  Spain,  Elizabeth 
Farnese.  Albcroni.  His  treaty  with  England.  George  I  and 
the  Regent.  Dubois'  mission  to  Holland.  Stanhope.  The  Pitt 
diamond.  The  Triple  Alliance  Dubois  in  London.  Albcroni 
and  the  Sicilian  Expedition.  The  Intrigues  of  the  Duehesse 
du  Maine  and  the  Prince  de  Cellamarc.  War  declared  against 
Spain.  Albcroni's  plans.  His  dismissal.  The  Quadruple 
Alliance.  The  Spanish  marringes.  Mariannita.  Dubois  at 
his  zenith.     Watteau. 

THE    Regent  had  another    satelhtc,   the    Abbe  Dubois ; 
a   man    of  the  greatest  ambition,   he  directed   foreign 
affairs  from  behind  the  seenes,  with  more  skill  but  with 
no  less  daring  than  Law  had  shown  in  the  management  of 
finance.     He  was  the  son  of  a  doctor  at  Brive-la-Gaillardc,  and 
.  came  to  Paris  at  the  expense  of  a  nobleman,  for 

he  had  no  private  means.  Entrusted  with  the 
education  of  Philippe  d'0rl6ans  at  a  salary  of  five  hundred 
crowns,  he  gradually  won  for  himself  a  place  in  the  sun.  He 
reaped  the  reward  of  services  performed  for  his  pupil,  often  of 
an  ignoble  nature,  by  becoming  his  most  powerful  minister, 
and  finally  he  was  to  receive  the  highest  ecclesiastical  prize, 
the  cardinal's  purple. 

On  September  2,  1715,  the  day  on  which  the  Duke  was 
proclaimed  Regent,  he  went  to  see  his  mother  at  Versailles. 
She  embraced  him  tenderly  and  said  :  "  I  do  not  intend  to 
interfere  in  anything,  there  is  only  one  thing  that  I  wish,  and 
that  is  that  the  Ahh6  Dubois  may  have  no  share  in  the  future 
government.  He  is  the  greatest  knave  and  the  most  notorious 
rascal  in  the  world  ;  he  would  do  anything  to  advance  himself 
38 


THE    TWO    CARDINALS 

in  the  slightest  degree,  and  would  sell  his  master  and  the  State 
to  serve  his  smallest  interest."  The  Regent  promised  all  the 
princess  asked,  but  his  promises  were  but  empty  words. 

Dubois'  reign  was  about  to  begin,  and  in  certain  respects 
it  was  to  be  a  glorious  reign.  Knave  he  may  have  been,  but  he 
was  also  a  skilful  politician.  The  Regent  foresaw  that  this 
bugbear  of  Madame  Palatine,  Saint-Simon,  and  after  them,  of 
Michelet,  could  be  of  service  to  him.  Events  were  to  justify 
his  confidence  in  his  old  tutor.  We  shall  see  Dubois  at  grips 
with  Spain,  where  a  Bourbon  was  King,  the  grandson  of  Louis 
XIV,  and  with  England,  whose  interests  were  closely  allied  to 
those  of  France,  and  to  those  of  the  Regent  especially. 

Philip  V  had  officially  renounced  his  rights  to  the  crown 
of  his  ancestors,  and  might  have  been  satisfied  with  his  throne 
in  Spain ;  but  his  whole  policy  was  directed  towards  obtaining 
the  ultimate  succession  to  Louis  XV,  if  not  for  himself,  at  least 
for  his  descendants.  His  minister  Grimaldo  had  written  thus 
in  May  1714,  in  anticipation  of  the  King's  death  :  "  If  the 
Dauphin  (Louis  XV)  should  die,  his  Catholic  Majesty,  who  has 
never  dreamed  of  possessing  the  two  crowns  himself,  would 
wish  to  give  that  of  France  to  one  of  his  sons,  while  himself  keep- 
ing the  crown  of  Spain." 

Philip  V  had  lost  his  first  wife,  Marie-Louise  of  Savoy,  sister 
of  the  Duchesse  de  Bourgogne,  on  February  14,  1714,  and  had 
Second  married  again.     The  new  Queen  was  twenty-two 

Marriage  of  years  of  age.  Her  first  act  was  the  courageous 
Philip  V  of  one  of  dismissing  the  Princesse  des  Ursins,  the 
Spain.  g^lj  powerful  camerera  mayor,  thus  indicating  that 

she  would  submit  to  no  yoke.  Elizabeth  Farnese  brought  with 
her  into  Spain  all  the  energy  of  a  descendant  of  Charles  the 
Fifth,  and  all  the  pride  of  a  woman  whom  fortune  has  placed 
in  a  position  beyond  her  hopes. 

She  travelled  over  land  from  Parma,  receiving  homage  by 
the  way,  along  the  Ligurian  coast  and  through  the  south  of 
France.  The  stages  of  her  journey  were  short,  in  spite  of  her 
husband's  impatience.  The  judgment  passed  on  her  was  every- 
where the  same,  that  she  was  not  beautiful,  that  she  was  deeply 
pitted  with  small-pox,  but  that  her  demeanour  was  lofty  and 
that  she  could  be  extremely  gracious  when  she  pleased.   "  Heart 

39 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

of  a  Lombard,  spirit  of  a  Florentine,  her  will  was  very  strong," 
said  the  Prince  of  Monaco.  The  Due  de  Saint-Aignan,  who  was 
sent  by  Louis  XIV  to  greet  her  on  her  entry  into  Provence, 
wrote :  "  Her  will  is  very  pronounced  .  .  .  but  I  believe 
there  will  be  some  means  of  ruling  her  ;  if  this  is  so,  it  will  be 
done  by  those  of  her  household  who  know  how  to  please  her." 
Saint-Aignan  foresaw  Alberoni,  who,  as  was  known  later, 
planned  the  dismissal  of  the  Princesse  des  Ursins.  Philip's 
ambitions  were  strengthened  by  the  influence  of  Elizabeth  and 
her  confidant. 

^  >Albcroni's  career  is  singularly  like  that  of  Dubois.     Like 
him  he  was  of  humble  origin.     He  was  the  son  of  a  gardener  of 
Placentia  and  "  had  assumed  the  gowTi,  by  be- 
6ro^-  coming  an  abb6,  to  enable  him  to  reach  heights 

which  would  have  been  inaccessible  to  his  smock."  He  was  able  to 
secure  the  favour  of  the  Duke  of  Parma,  who  discovered  his  capa- 
bility, and  appointed  him  to  represent  him  at  the  court  of  Madrid. 
Like  Dubois,  he  succeeded  in  making  an  unique  position  for 
himself ;  and  this  was  assured  when  he  had  brought  about  the 
marriage  of  Elizabeth  Farnese,  his  master's  niece,  with  the 
King  of  Spain.  Also,  like  Dubois  he  became  a  Cardinal,  and 
the  same  indignation  was  expressed  when  it  was  known  that 
he  had  been  admitted  to  the  Sacred  College. 

He  had  enormous  influence  over  the  mind  of  the  princess 
whom  he  had  made  Queen,  and  through  her  over  the  King, 
who  allowed  himself  to  be  easily  led.  He  inspired  all  Philip's 
policy  during  the  early  years  of  the  Regency.  He  urged  the 
King  to  the  conquest  of  Italy,  and  he  instilled  in  the  mind  of 
Elizabeth  that  consistent  hatred  of  France,  which,  in  spite  of 
subsequent  rapprochements,  even  survived  his  fall. 

He  courted  England  with  the  object  of  dealing   a  mortal 
blow  at  France.     At  his  instigation,  Philip,  on  November  14,  . 
His  Treaty  1715,  signed  a  treaty  under  which  the  King  of 

with  England.  Great  Britain  was  accorded  greater  privileges  in 
America  than  had  ever  been  given  to  France,  a  treaty  so 
advantageous,  "  that  the  Dutch  ambassador  at  Madrid  showed 
his  joy  as  though  it  meant  the  ruin  of  French  commerce."  But  ^ 
the  English  did  not  accept  the  alliance  proposed  by  Alberoni,'" 
and  to  the  great  surprise  of  Madrid,  George  I  and  the  Emperor 
40 


THE    TWO    CARDINALS 

concluded  a  treaty  in  May  1716,  to  guarantee  each  other's 
territories  ;  the  Emperor  was  PhiHp's  irreconcilable  enemy, 
and  had  been  an  unsuccessful  competitor  for  the  Castillian 
succession.  The  King  of  Spain  was  punished  for  having  broken 
with  France  and  for  his  estrangement  from  the  elder  Bourbon 
line. 

It  is  surely  not  to  the  discredit  of  the  Regent  that  he  upset  the 
plans  of  Alberoni,  assured  himself  in  his  turn  of  the  friendship 
of  England,  and  re-established  peace,  which  was  threatened  by 
the  schemes  of  a  skilful  intriguer  whose  fault  was  that  his  vision 
was  too  vast.  Had  Alberoni  the  true  qualities  of  a  statesman  ? 
He  said  of  himself :  "  My  temperament  is  lively,  and  the  little 
pot  boils  quickly."  On  his  own  showing,  he  had  not  the  self- 
possession  which  is  necessary  to  secure  diplomatic  victories  ; 
his  designs  were  ambitious,  but  he  always  failed — owing  to  his 
temperament  and  his  lack  of  tact  and  prudence. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  England  was  playing  with  Spain.  She 
had  no  interest  in  supporting  Philip  in  his  attempt  to  secure 
the  throne  of  France. 

George  I  and  the  Regent  were  able  to  be  mutually  useful. 
It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  they  were  very  close  relatives. 
George  I  and  On  their  mothers'  side  they  were  descended  from 
the  Regent.  the  Stuarts  ;  the  grandmother  of  the  one,  and 
the  great-grandmother  of  the  other  was  Elizabeth,  Charles  I's 
sister,  the  unfortunate  Queen  of  Bohemia,  who  was  deposed 
and  exiled  at  the  beginning  of  the  Thirty  Years  War.  The 
two  cousins  had  exchanged  courteous  and  even  affectionate 
letters  before  September  1,  1715.  They  cultivated  one  another 
in  anticipation  of  the  future.  George  needed  the  King  of 
France  to  keep  away  the  Pretender,  the  son  of  James  II,  whose 
throne  he  had  taken,  while  on  his  side  the  Due  d'Orleans  relied 
on  the  King  of  England  to  keep  Spain  in  order.  There  was  a 
compact  between  them,  though  there  was  some  hesitation  on 
either  side.  The  Regent  temporized.  In  his  anxiety  to  settle 
his  numerous  daughters,  he  thought  of  marrying  Mademoiselle 
de  Valois,  afterwards  the  Duchess  of  Modena,  to  the  Chevalier  de 
Saint-Georges  ;  consequently  he  secretly  supported  the  Pre- 
tender ;'  while  George  I  allowed  Alberoni  to  burn  himself  in 
picking  chestnuts  from  the  fire.     In  spite  of  these  complications 

41 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

the  first  vntcnic  cordialc  was  concluded  and  ccnuntcd  by 
both  real  and  personal  interests.  The  understanding  was 
useful  to  the  House  of  Orleans,  whose  ultimate  triumph  in  the 
event  of  Louis'  death  the  Regent  was  determined  to  secure. 
George  also  gained  the  support  he  needed  to  assure  his  position 
as  a  usurper.  In  fact,  the  whole  policy  of  this  period  was 
founded  on  open  egotism  ;  whether  at  Versailles.  London,  or 
Madrid,  the  interests  considered  were  dynastic  and  not  national. 

But  during  this  struggle  the  diplomats  performed  marvels, 
and  Dubois,  after  considerable  difFieulty  and  sacrifice,  extri- 
cated the  Regent  from  the  imbroglio  in  which  he  found  him- 
self between  England,  discontented  SjX  his  equivocal  conduct, 
Spain,  in  open  hostility  to  France,  and  the  faction  of  the 
legitimized  princes,  who  in  their  present  eclipse  expected  every- 
thing from  the  intervention  of  Philip  V/  These  three  problems 
were  solved  at  practically  the  same  time,  thanks  to  Dubois, 
who  had  been  given  full  powers  to  treat. 

The  future  Cardinal  could  trust  only  himself  w^ith  the 
conduct  of  these  delicate  negotiations.  In  June  1716,  he  went 
Dubois'  to  Holland  in  the  strictest  incognito,  under  the 

Mission  to  assumed  name  of  Saint-Albin.     His  disguise  con- 

Holland,  sistcd  of  a  whole  wardrobe  of  dilTerent  costumes 

and  perruques.  He  was  accompanied  by  a  single  secretary, 
the  Sieur  de  Sourdeval,  who  passed  as  his  master.  This  mission, 
which  was  to  end  in  the  Triple  and  Quadruple  Alliances,  had  at 
the  outset  the  appearance  of  cometly,  and  seemed  to  have  been 
entrusted  to  Dorante  and  Pasquin.  \ 

Dubois  arrived  at  the  Hague  on  July  5,  and  waited  for 
the  arrival  of  George  I,  who  was  to  land  at  a  secret  spot,  on  a 
visit  to  his  dominion  of  Hanover.  He  bore  a  letter  from  the 
Regent,  couched  as  follows  :  "  Should  the  Abbe  Dubois,  who 
is  in  Holland  on  his  private  affairs,  be  there  when  His  ]\Iajcsty 
passes,  and  should  the  opportunity  be  given  him  to  have  the 
honour  to  convey  the  sentiments  he  is  aware  that  I  feel  for  the 
person  of  Your  Majesty  and  for  union  between  France  and 
England,  I  pray  Your  Majesty  to  have  confidence  in  him  and 
to  be  persuaded  that  he  cannot  exaggerate  my  respect  and 
esteem  for  Your  Majesty." 

After  waiting  for  a  fortnight  Dubois  heard  of  the  King's 
42 


THE    TWO    CARDINALS 

arrival,  and  sent  a  note  to  the  minister  Stanhope,  in  which  he 
said  :  "I  could  not,  my  lord,  resist  the  temptation  to  take 
advantage  of  your  passage  through  Holland  that  I  might  do 
myself  the  honour  of  embracing  you.  I  am  at  the  Hague, 
unknown  to  anyone  and  incognito.  I  ask  you  to  keep  my 
secret,  and  to  be  so  good  as  to  let  me  know  where  and  when 
it  would  be  convenient  for  me  to  meet  you  and  converse  with 
you  without  interruption.  I  hope  you  will  grant  this  favour 
in  remembrance  of  the  friendship  with  which  you  have  honoured 
me,  and  the  sincere  interest  I  take  in  all  that  concerns  you." 
The  Abb6  saw  Stanhope  on  July  21,  and  was  able  to  reassure 
him  as  to  the  Regent's  attitude,  declaring  that  he  had  abandoned 
all  idea  of  assisting  James  II's  son.  After  three  interviews 
Dubois  hurriedly  returned  to  Paris  to  seek  instructions.  A 
week  later  he  left  again  for  Hanover,  where,  in  the  meantime,  an 
agreement  had  been  drawn  up,  embodying  Stanhope's  con- 
ditions, which,  after  some  discussion,  were  accepted. 

The  English  minister  had  been  the  mainspring  of  these  trans- 
actions ;  he  was  a  skilled  diplomat,  who  was  actively  concerned 
in  most  of  the  important  events  of  his  time ;  his 
Stanhope.  policy  is  summed  up  by  his  phrase  :  "  I  hope  to 

make  the  English  lose  the  habit  of  considering  the  French  their  " 
natural  enemies."  He  had  known  the  Regent  in  Spain,  and 
Dubois  in  Paris.  It  suited  him  to  encourage  a  bold  policy,  since 
he  realized  the  advantage  to  be  derived  therefrom,  a  purely  moral 
advantage,  for  during  the  negotiations,  he  was  compelled  to 
refuse  a  bribe  from  Dubois,  who  offered  him  600,000  livres. 
The  only  present  that  was  accepted  was  sixty  casks  of  the  best 
Champagne  and  Burgundy,  which  were  sent  to  the  English 
Court.  Saint-Simon  accused  Dubois  of  having  sold  himself  to 
the  English,  but  he  could  hardly  have  accepted  and  offered  a 
gratuity  at  the  same  time.  His  cupidity  is  well  known,  but 
on  this  occasion  it  is  only  just  to  refute  the  calumnies  of  the 
memoir-writer.  One  of  Dubois'  historians,  M.  Wiesener,  after 
careful  research  in  the  Record  Office  in  London,  has  been 
unable  to  find  any  trace  of  money  given  to  Dubois.  There 
The  Pitt  remains  the  question  of  the  diamond  which  was 

Diamond.  bought  from  Stanhope's  father-in-law,   Pitt,  for 

2,500,000  francs — the  famous  "  Regent "  diamond,  now  in  the 

43 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

Louvre.  Here  nfrain  it  was  necessary  to  win  over  the  F^n^lish, 
or  rather  the  small  but  powerful  party  in  the  House  of  Commons, 
which  was  then  opposed  to  an  alliance  with  France.  It  is 
possible  that  Dubois  received  a  commission  from  Pitt,  but  this 
is  a  pure  conjecture  founded  on  a  presumption  from  the  known 
character  of  the  man. 

The  Triple  Alliance  between  France,  Enj^land  and  Holland, 
was  signed  on  January  4,  1717,  in  all  the  sunshine  of  a  "true, 
The  Triple  firm,     and    inviolable    peace."     The    conditions 

Alliance.  were  that  "  the  person  who  had  taken  the  title 

of  Prince  of  Wales,  during  the  life  of  the  late  King  James  II, 
and,  after  his  death,  that  of  King  of  Great  Britain,"  should  be 
for  ever  expelled  from  French  territory,  and  should  ])e  obliged 
to  live  "  on  the  other  side  of  the  Alps,"  England  had  no  wish 
to  see  a  repetition  of  the  unsuccessful  attempt  which  the 
Pretender  had  just  made  on  English  territory,  and  therefore 
liad  made  up  her  mind  to  crush  the  Jacobite  party  com- 
pletely. The  canal  at  Mardick,  begun  by  Louis  XIV  to  replace 
the  port  at  Dunkirk,  and  then  demolished  in  accordance  with 
the  Treaty  of  Utrecht,  was  to  be  abandoned,  and  to  be  used 
only  as  a  conduit  for  w^ater  to  irrigate  the  country,  or  for  the 
conmiercial  service  of  that  part  of  the  Netherlands  ;  and  the 
boats  to  be  used  for  this  purpose  were  not  to  be  larger  than 
sixteen  feet  in  width.  The  clauses  of  the  Treaty  of  Utrecht 
relative  to  the  succession  of  the  Protestant  line  in  Great  Britain 
were  maintained,  as  were  those  that  dealt  with  the  succession 
to  the  French  crown,  whereby  the  Spanish  Bourbons  were 
excluded.  As  a  concession  to  Holland,  France  agreed  to 
abolish  her  import  duty  of  four  sous  in  the  pound  on  Dutch 
goods. 

George  I  and  the  Regent  thus  assured  their  dynasties,  while 
Holland  improved  her  commercial  position.  France,  it  is  true, 
sacrificed  the  Mardick  canal,  but  in  so  doing  she  conformed  to 
the  spirit  of  the  Treaty  of  Utrecht,^  and  it  would  have  meant  cer- 
tain war  if  she  had  not  yielded.X  The  policy  of  Dubois  and  the 
Regent  has  been  severely  criticized ;  new  ideas  in  defiance  of 
tradition  are  not  readily  accepted,  and  no  one  likes  to  swim 
against  the  stream,  but  it  is  possible  to  defend  this  policy  in 
view  of  the  attitude  of  Spain.  For  this  natural  ally  of  France 
44 


THE    TWO    CARDINALS 

was  now  her  enemy,  while  George  I  had  for  a  long  time  favoured 
the  idea  of  an  alliance  with  her.  Before  the  death  of  Louis  XIV 
he  wrote  to  Stair,  his  representative  at  Paris  :  "  We  think  it 
expedient  to  command  you,  very  particularly,  to  try  by  all 
the  means  in  your  power  to  maintain  an  intimate  and  con- 
fidential connexion  with  our  brother  the  Duke  of  Orleans. 
You  will  encourage  him  to  trust  us  and  our  kingdoms  to  provide 
him,  should  the  occasion  arise,  with  the  most  effective 
assistance."  Eighteen  months  had  barely  gone  by  since  then 
and  George  was  victorious  :  he  had  made  it  appear  that  he  was 
furthering  the  interests  of  his  future  ally,  while  he  had  really 
assured  his  own — a  triumph  of  diplomatic  ability. 

Yet  the  interests  of  France,  the  "  real  good  "  of  the  people, 
had  not  been  neglected.  At  the  end  of  1716,  Dubois  said  to  the 
Regent  :  "  It  is  certain  that  this  alliance  will  decide  the  fate 
of  Europe  for  a  long  time  and  will  give  France  a  superiority 
which  she  could  acquire  by  no  other  means.  That  being  so,  I 
believe  it  to  be  beyond  price,  and  were  I  master  I  would  rather 
lose  thirty  millions  than  have  it  fail."  In  answer  to  this 
declaration  the  Regent  wrote  personally  :  "I  agree  with  you 
in  all  this."  The  day  that  the  Treaty  was  signed.  Stanhope 
said  to  Dubois  :  "  Your  journey  to  The  Hague,  Sir,  has  saved 
much  bloodshed  and  there  are  many  nations  that  unwittingly 
owe  their  peace  to  you." 

But  Dubois  had  every  intention  of  profiting  by  the  conclusion 
of  the  Triple  Alliance.  When  it  was  signed,  he  hastened  to 
assure  his  position  !  "  I  consider  myself  happy,"  he  wrote 
to  the  Due  d' Orleans,  "  to  have  been  honoured  with  your 
commands  in  a  matter  so  essential  to  your  welfare,  and  I  am 
more  grateful  to  you  for  having  given  me  this  proof  of  the  honour 
of  your  confidence  than  if  you  had  made  me  a  cardinal.''''  This 
was  the  first  hint ;  meanwhile,  Dubois  obtained  a  list  of  vacant 
benefices,  and  with  absolute  shamelessness,  appropriated  a 
number  of  remunerative  dignities.  Among  others,  he  granted 
himself  the  Abbey  of  Alquier,  with  a  revenue  of  25,000  livres, 
and  sat  as  Councillor  of  State  for  Foreign  Affairs,  His  assump- 
tion of  office  was  marked  by  the  abandonment  of  the  Councils  ; 
the  old  forms  were  revived,  and  Dubois  was  assured  of  being 
absolute  master  of  his  own  department. 

45 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

For  the  future  Dubois  ^vils  no  longer  a  comedian  in  a  low 
Dutch  inn,  but  a  splendid  ambassador,  living  in  great  style 
Dubois  in  i'^  London.     lie  definitely  crowned  his  policy  by 

Londou.  ti»e  signature  of  the  Quadruple  Alliance  on  August 

2,  1718.     He  persuaded  the  Emperor  Charles  VI  to  renounce 
his  hope  of  reuniting  the  crowns  of  Spain  and  Hungary,  and 
thus  made  any  new  usurpation  improbable.     Philip  V,  for  his  -l 
part,  obtained  the  Emperor's  promise  to  cede  the  Duchy  of  ^ 
Parma  to  his  son,  Don  Carlos.     But  the  King  of  Spain  agreed 
to  the  conditions  reluctantly. 

Whilst  Dubois  was  negotiating  with  the  English  Court, 
Alberoni,  who  had  become  a  Cardinal  on  July  12,  1717,  was 
using  the  money,  raised  by  papal  authority  from  the  clergy 
of  Spain  and  the  Indies  for  the  Cruzada  against  the  infidels, 
to  strengthen  Philip's  navy.  He  attacked  Sardinia  and  hoped 
to  retake  Sicily,  which  had  been  given  to  the  Duke  of  Savoy 
by  the  Treaty  of  Utrecht.  This  second  armada  was  entirely^ 
destroyed  by  the  English  Admiral  Byng,  on  August  17,  1718, 
off  Syracuse  and  Cape  Passaro.  .   ' 

A  less  sanguinary  defeat  also  awaited  the  Cardinal  in  the 
discovery  of  the  intrigues  carried  on  by  the  Spanish  Ambassador 
The  Cellamare  at  Paris,  the  Prince  of  Cellamare,  at  his  instiga- 
Conspiracy.  tion.  His  object  had  been  to  persuade  the  legiti- 
mized princes,  who  were  discontented  with  the  obscure  position 
they  occupied  under  the  Regency,  to  support  his  master's 
claims.  The  pompous  though  popular  word  conspiracy  is  too 
strong  an  expression  to  use  for  so  childish  a  plot,  an  absurd 
conception  of  the  feather-brained  Duchessc  du  Maine,  who 
found  a  cure  for  her  neurasthenia  in  weaving  these  imbroglios.' 

But  the  Government  insisted  on  treating  the  "  conspirators  " 
as  criminals,  and  in  taking  them  seriously,  although  they  knew 
well  enough  that  a  handful  of  madmen  do  not  constitute  a 
I)arty.  The  Cojntc  de  Laval  who,  on  the  pretext  of  his  relation- 
ship to  Louis  XIV,  had  worn  mourning  at  that  king's  death,  was 
seeking  only  to  advertise  himself.  The  Marquis  de  Pompadour, 
whose  name  was  aftenvards  so  celebrated,  joined  this  venture 
in  the  mere  hope  of  retrieving  his  fortunes,  shattered  by  a  new 
Government  to  which  he  was  opposed.  These  two  had  been 
charged  by  Madame  du  Maine,  one  with  the  negotiations  with 
40 


e 


THE    TWO    CARDINALS 

Spain,  and  the  other  with  the  correspondence  with  the  provinces. 
Cellamare  himself  has  testified  to  the  insignificance  of  the 
httle  Duchess'  following  and  to  the  ineptitude  of  their  plans. 
When  he  received  Alberoni's  instructions  not  to  quit  Paris 
until  all  the  mines  had  been  fired,  he  wittily  remarked  :  "  Mines 
without  powder."  The  Duchesse  du  Maine  was  sent  to  the 
Chateau  of  Dijon  ;  the  Duke,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  he  was 
not  in  his  wife's  confidence  and  had  kept  aloof  from  the  plot, 
was  taken  to  the  fortress  of  Doullens,  and  the  subordinates 
were  lodged  in  the  Bastille,  Vincennes,  and  other  places.  But 
they  were  all  pardoned  soon  afterwards,  the  confessions  of  the 
culprits  being  the  only  condition  demanded  for  their  liberty. 
His  status  as  ambassador  made  Cellamare  inviolable  ;  he  was 
retained  for  a  short  time  at  Blois,  and  then  escorted  over  the 
Spanish  frontier. 

Dubois  naturally  made  use  of  this  pretended  conspiracy  to 
induce  the  Regent  to  declare  war  on  Spain,  and  to  support  the 
policy  of  England.  If,  at  this  moment,  Philip  had  joined  the 
Quadruple  Alliance,  thus  abandoning  his  pretensions  and 
securing  for  his  son  the  Italian  duchies  denied  him  by  the 
Treaty  of  Utrecht,  there  would  have  been  no  need  to  resort  <^-  \ 
to  extremities.  But  nothing  could  check  the  obstinacy  of 
Alberoni,  and  it  was  necessary  to  give  that  Cardinal  a  lesson. 

On  January  9, 1719,  the  rupture  between  France  and  Spain 
was  complete.  The  French  forces  were  led  by  the  Marshal 
War  between  Duke  of  Berwick,  who  had  formerly  won  battles 
France  and  for  the  grandson  of  Louis  XIV.  Hostilities  broke 
Spain.  out  in  the  spring,  on  April  20.     They  resulted 

in  a  series  of  reverses  for  Philip's  naval  and  military  forces  ; 
the  arsenals  of  Pasajes  and  Santona  were  burnt ;  Fontarabia  and 
San  Sebastian  were  captured.  The  Spanish  King  came  to 
realize  how  chimerical  was  the  advice  to  which  he  had  listened. 

All  Alberoni's  schemes  were  foundering ;  yet  how  vast 
were  the  projects  which  filled  his  overcharged  imagination  ! 
In  March  1719,  he  attempted  to  assist  the  Stuart  Pretender,  but  ^ 
the  fleet  which  set  sail  for  Scotland  was  scattered  by  a  tempest. 
In  June  he  made  Philip  propose  the  dismemberment  of  France 
and  England,  promising  to  reserve  one  throne  for  the  Due 
d' Orleans  and  another  for  James.     After  thus  upsetting  the 

47 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

map  of  Europe  in  the  depths  of  his  palace,  PhiHp  wrote  to 
Orleans  on  June  12,  1719  :  "  These  are  the  conditions  which 
will  restore  })ublic  calm,  the  balance  of  power  in  Europe,  peace 
and  gratification  in  Spain  and  France,  and  the  honour  of  our 
august  House,  so  often  slighted  by  England,  while  the  latter 
will  learn  from  personal  experience  the  meaning  of  partition, 
the  more  justly,  since  she  has  arranged  the  same  for  all  Europe. 
The  lustre  of  the  House  of  France  will  shine  the  brighter  by  the 
addition  of  a  fresh  crown  on  the  head  of  a  prince  of  that  august 
family."     To  this  letter  the  Due  d'Orleans  made  no  reply. 

Alberoni  next  turned  his  attention  to  the  provinces  of 
France,  particularly  Brittany  ;  he  made  use  of  an  agitation 
started  by  the  Breton  States-General  and  encouraged  by  a 
group  of  gentlemen  favourable  to  the  Spanish  cause,  who 
acted  with  the  Cardinal's  connivance  and  were  independent  of  the 
Duchesse  du  Maine.  An  extraordinary  commission  called 
a  Chambre  Royale  was  appointed  by  letters  patent  on  October 
3,  1719,  to  try  the  rebels  ;  four  were  beheaded,  among  them 
the  Marquis  de  Pontcallec,  and  sixteen  others  fled  either  to 
Madrid  or  Parma,  and  were  condemned  by  default. 

Before  this,  Alberoni  had  endeavoured  to  secure  an  alliance 
with  Turkey,  when  that  country  was  signing  the  peace  of 
Passarowitz  with  the  Emperor  ;  and  had  derived  fresh  hopes 
from  Charles  XII  of  Sweden  at  the  very  time  the  latter  fell  in 
the  trenches  before  Frederikshall. 

It  is  not  permissible  for  a  minister  to  be  always  at  fault 
in  the  situations  he  creates,  nor  to  be  thus  persecuted  by  fortune. 
Dismissal  of  One  by  one  all  the  dreams  of  Alberoni  faded  ; 
Alberoni.  the  plots  he  wove  against  the  King  of  England 

and  the  Emperor  in  the  north  and  east,  the  vain  schemes  he 
prepared  against  the  Regent,  all  vanished  in  smoke.  He  had 
revealed  the  possibilities  of  his  energetic  but  erratic  tempera- 
ment. The  Spanish  King's  eyes  were  opened.  Philip  dis- 
missed the  Cardinal  like  a  servant,  commanding  him  to  leave 
Madrid  in  eight  days  and  never  to  appear  before  him  again. 
This  happened  in  December  1719,  and  the  relief  in  Europe 
was  general.  Dubois  wrote  to  Stanhope  :  "  The  King  and 
Queen  of  Spain  have  at  length  had  resolution  enough  to  dismiss 
the  ministry  and  to  drive  Cardinal  Alberoni  out  of  Spain.  .  .  . 
48 


THE    TWO    CARDINALS 

One  cannot  think  of  this  event,  my  lord,  without  realizing 
how  much  is  due  to  Your  Excellency  for  the  value  of  the  pro- 
jects that  you  have  made,  and  for  the  justice  of  the  means  used 
to  bring  them  about.  The  slight  temporary  anxiety  and 
expenditure  involved  have  saved  us  from  the  infinite  misfortunes 
that  a  general  war  might  have  caused.'''' 

In  an  unpublished  letter  of  December  11,  1719,  now  in  the 
Archives  at  Naples,  Elizabeth  Farnese  wrote  to  the  Duke  of 
Parma  :  "  God  be  praised  !  the  Cardinal  departs  to-morrow  ; 
but  keep  an  eye  on  him,  for  he  is  capable  of  anything  ;  his 
brain  is  diabolical — un  cervello  diabolico.^^ 

Alberoni  himself  realized  that  he  was  an  obstacle  in  the  way 
of  European  peace.  On  December  6,  he  admitted  to  his  friend 
Rocca  :  "  You  will  learn  what  has  happened  from  the  Marquis 
Annibale  Scotti.  It  was  the  smallest  sacrifice  that  could  be 
made  to  give  peace  to  Europe."  Was  this  resignation,  pride, 
or  irony  ?     Anything  may  be  read  between  the  lines. 

Alberoni  lived  until  1752.  Before  his  death,  at  the  age  of 
eighty-eight  he  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  Don  Carlos  and  Don 
Philip,  the  sons  of  Philip  V  and  Elizabeth  Farnese,  in  possession 
of  the  Kingdom  of  Naples  and  the  Duchy  of  Parma,  and  an  Italy 
partially  delivered  from  Austrian  rule-— a  pleasure  which  must 
have  had  some  bitterness  in  it,  since  he  himself  had  nothing 
to  do  with  the  result. 

In  spite  of  his  defeat,  the  King  of  Spain  endeavoured  to 
exact  sacrifices  from  the  conqueror  ;  he  seemed  to  wish  to 
The  Quadruple  recompense  himself  for  the  dismissal  of  Alberoni 
Alliance.  by  demanding,  as  a  condition  to  the  signature  of 

the  treaty,  the  restitution  of  the  territory  occupied  by  the 
belligerents,  and  the  recognition  of  the  rights  of  his  son  Don 
Carlos  to  the  succession  of  Parma  and  Tuscany,  without  Imperial 
investiture.  Philip  was  disarmed  by  the  very  excess  of  his 
claims.  He  finally  acceded  to  the  Quadruple  Alliance  on 
January  20,  1720.  His  accession  was  ratified  at  The  Hague  on 
May  20 ;  Sicily  reverted  to  the  Emperor,  and  the  Duke  of 
Savoy,  late  King  of  Sicily,  became  King  of  Sardinia.  The  King 
of  Spain  again  renounced  the  Crown  of  France,  and  submitted 
to  the  Emperor's  will  as  to  the  establishment  of  Don  Carlos  in 
Italy. 

D  49 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

Shortly  afterwards,  the  friendly  relations  between  the  Rcfrent 
and  Philip  V  were  sealed  by  proposals  of  marriage.  It  seemed 
The  Spanish  that  there  was  to  be  a  return  of  hap])y  days  for 
Marriages.  the   two   Houses,    and   that   the   most   cherished 

dynastic  ambitions  were  to  be  satisfied.  In  1721,  Louis  XV 
was  affianced  to  Anna-Maria- Victoria,  his  first  cousin,  daughter 
of  the  King  of  Sj)ain  and  Elizabeth  Farncsc.  The  King  was 
in  his  fourteenth  year,  the  Infanta  in  her  fifth,  so  that  this 
arrangement  was  a  little  premature,  and  some  time  would  have 
to  elapse  before  the  marriage  could  be  celebrated  ;  but  the 
Regent  decided  that  there  should  be  an  exchange  of  princesses 
in  order  to  establish  his  own  daughters.  One  of  them.  Mile, 
de  Montpcnsicr,  as  the  wife  of  Louis  I,  was  to  be  Queen  of 
Spain  for  a  few  months  ;  *  another.  Mile,  de  Beaujolais,  was 
afiianced  to  Don  Carlos.  Mariannita,  as  her  mother  called 
her,  made  her  solemn  entry  into  Paris  on  March  2,  1722, 
amid  popular  rejoicings.  She  was  thought  charming,  spirited, 
comparatively  pretty,  "  fair,  pink,  and  white."  Wliile  she 
was  at  Chartres,  on  the  previous  day,  the  Cardinal  de  Rohan, 
Grand  Almoner  of  France,  and  Madame  de  Soubise  came 
to  see  her.  As  a  joke  the  Infanta  was  told  that  the  Cardinal 
w^as  very  ugly,  more  so  even  than  the  Bishop  of  Bazas,  of 
whom  she  was  afraid.  When  she  saw,  on  the  contrary, 
how  handsome  AL  de  Rohan  was  (he  was  called  the  Belle 
Eminence)  she  remained  quiet,  but  at  dinner,  half  an  hour 
later,  she  made  a  mischievous  remark  :  "  Madame  de  Soubise 
must  be  whipped,  for  she  has  lied."  On  March  21-,  a  superb 
firework  display  was  held  on  the  Seine  ;  a  fete  given  by  the 
Duke  of  Ossona,  the  Spanish  Ambassador.  Louis  XV  and  Anna- 
Maria-Victoria  watched  from  a  box  constructed  at  the  Louvre. 
As  the  King  said  nothing,  the  Infanta  often  pulled  his  sleeve 
and  asked  him  :  "  Monsieur,  do  you  not  think  it  beautiful  ?  " 
He  replied  :  '*  Yes,"  whereupon  she  waved  her  hands  excitedly 
to  those  around  and  cried  :  "  He  has  spoken  to  me  1  He  has 
spoken  to  me  !  "  The  contrast,  between  this  "  tiny  (mirmi- 
donc)  Infanta"  as  the  songs  called  her,  and  the  young  King 

*   In  J;inuary  172i,  Pliilij*  abdic-att-f!  in  favour  of  flic  l^rinco  of  Asfmias 
who  rcicncd  unricr  the  name  of  Louis  I  and  died  in  the  month  of  JiiJy 
followinj^.     Philip  then  re-assumed  the  crown. 
50 


y" 


THE    TWO    CARDINALS 

beside  her,  melancholy  and  taciturn,  was  striking.  Artists  have 
handed  down  to  us  the  characteristics  of  Mariannita,  and  the 
graceful  portrait  of  her  by  Belle  is  one  of  the  most  charming 
pictures  at  Versailles.  She  is  here  depicted  smiling,  with  a 
crown  of  flowers,  a  crown  doomed  to  fade,  symbolical  of  the 
little  princess'  destiny  in  France. 

President  Renault  described  these  matrimonial  arrange- 
ments rather  harshly,  but  he  must  come  very  near  the  truth 
when  he  says  in  his  Mhnoires :  "  The  Regent  after  hasty  de- 
liberation said  to  his  companions  :  I  understand  the  motives 
of  Spain ;  but  the  present  need  is  that  my  regency  should  be 
peaceful  and  I  consent  to  the  Infanta's  coming.  Why  did  he 
not  add  that  his  ambitions  were  the  same  as  the  King  of  Spain's, 
though  their  rights  were  in  conflict,  and  that  counting  on  the 
strength  of  Philip's  renunciations,  he  had  no  need  to  desire  heirs^ 
for  the  King  too  soon  !  "  ^ 

What  a  brilliant  future  for  all  these  princesses,  and  failing 
them  for  their  parents  !  These  marriages  were  expected  to 
accomplish  what  policy  and  war  had  failed  to  achieve. 

All  was  now  calm  after  the  troubles  caused  by  Law's 
system  and  the  dreams  of  Alberoni.  On  the  disappearance 
Apogee  of  of  his  rival  Dubois  could  satisfy  all  his  ambitions. 

Dubois.  On    June    9,    1720,    he    was    consecrated    Arch- 

bishop   of    Cambrai ;     on    July    16,  1721,    he    obtained    the 
Cardinal's   hat ;    on  December  4,   he  was  received  into  the 
Academic  Franyaise  ;    on  August  22,  1722,  he  was  appointed 
Prime  Minister.     It  would  take  too  long  to  recount,  as  the 
chronicler  Saint-Simon  and  the  historian  Lemontey  have  done, 
all  the  intrigues  involved  in  this  triumphal  progress.      It  is 
sufficient  to  recall  that,  in  order  to  become  a  prelate  and  to 
occupy  the  chair  of  Fenelon,  Dubois  had  to  be  ordained  priest, 
and  that   to  secure  the  purple  he  put  in  motion  the  King  of 
England,  a  Lutheran,  the  Pretender,  a  CathoHc,  the  Courts  of 
Madrid  and  Vienna,  the  Oratorians  and  the  Molinists,  directing 
the    most  irreconcilable  enemies  towards  the  same  goal,  and 
squandering  eight  million  francs  of  French  gold  !     His  cause  was 
only  won  by  his  making  the  Parlement  accept  the  famous  Bull 
Unigenitus  of  1713,  condemning   the    hundred   and  one   pro- 
positions taken  from  the  book  of  Pere  Quesnel  the  Oratorian 

51 


> 


THE    EIGHTEENTH   CENTURY 

{Reflexions  sur  Ic  Nouveau  Testament),  which  had  excited  so 
much  disj)ute.  At  the  commencement  of  the  Regency  the 
Due  d'Orl^ans  had  strongly  opposed  this  submission,  from  a 
desire  to  prove  himself  liberal  and  to  support  the  Jansenists, 
who  believed  in  Perc  Qucsnel.  But  he  could  do  nothing  against 
this  fevered  desire  for  the  hat,  which  has  been  compared  to  the 
papal  mania  of  some  influential  cardinals. 

Dubois  did  not  long  enjoy  his  remarkable  position  ;  he  died 
on  August  10,  1723  ;  while  on  December  2,  in  the  same  year 
his  master  the  Regent  was  carried  off  by  an  attack  of  apoplexy 
at  the  Chateau  of  Versailles. 

Both  of  them  had  faults  which  history  has  mercilessly  and 
justly  criticized.  But  they  left  behind  them  an  accomplished 
task,  though  their  work  is  unpopular  with  certain  historians 
even  to  this  day,  and  though  it  was  to  be  endangered  in  the 
entire  reversal  of  Dubois'  policy  by  his  successor,  the  Cardinal 
de  Fleury. 

Many  people  consider  the  Regency  to  have  been  a  mere 
succession  of  suppers,  masquerades,  and  balls  at  the  Op^ra 
— "  a  little  wit  and  much  debauchery,"  said  Voltaire.  But 
the  Regent,  who  had  entirely  changed  the  old  pompous  court 
etiquette  of  Louis  XIV,  did  his  share  of  serious  work.  This 
Don  Juan  did  not  forget  that  he  had  public  duties  to  fulfil.  He 
was  as  temperate  in  his  statesmanship  as  he  was  intemperate 
in  his  private  life.  He  deserves  a  better  fate  than  the  perpetua- 
tion of  all  the  slanders  and  legends  levelled  against  him. 

A  great  j)oet  lived  at  that  time.     In  his  Embarqucment  pour 

Cytherc,  he  synthesizes  a  fete  galantc  during  the  Regency  with 

amazing  artistic  taste,  audacity,  and  brilliance  of 

Wstteau  '  ^ ' 

colour.     If    we    are    to    rely    on    such   aesthetic 

testimony  we  must  try  only  to  see  the  beautiful  side  of  this  pagan 
episode.  Watteau,  beloved  of  the  gods,  died  young  ;  yet  we  owe 
him  a  debt  for  discovering  the  poetry  of  love  and  discreetly  veil- 
ing the  bacchanals  of  that  licentious  period. 

PiuNCiPAL  SouRCKS.  Arcluvcs  of  Naples,  fiiscio  56  ;  Letierr.  con- 
fldenzinli  di  E.  Farnrsc  nl  Ducn  di  Parma,  l^ocunicnts  Unt  us  by 
Glatico  Lombardi  ;  Mdmoire/t  of  tlic  Marshal,  Duke  of  IJorwick,  of  Mine, 
de  Staal,  and  of  President  Ilenault  ;  Lctires  ivtinwn  d'Alhrmni  d  Jtocca, 
published  by  E.  Rourgeois,   1   vol.,  Paris,   1892  ;    Dumont,  Corps  diplo- 


THE    TWO    CARDINALS 

matique  VIII ;  Voltaire,  SUcle  de  Louis  XV  ;  Michelet,  Histoire  de 
France  ;  Aubertin,  U Esprit  public  au  XVIII  siicle,  1  vol.,  1872  ;  A. 
Baudrillart,  Philippe  V  et  la  Cour  de  France,  vol.  ii.,  1890  ;  Wiesener,  Le 
Regent,  VAbbd  Dubois  et  les  Anglais,  3  vols.,  1891  ;  Glasson,  Le  Parlement 
de  Paris,  2  vols.,  Paris,  1901  ;  Bliard,  Dubois,  cardinal  et  premier  ministre, 
2  vols.,  1902. 


53 


SECOND  PART 

THE  DUC  DE  BOURBON  AND 
CARDINAL  DE  FLEURY 


CHAPTER  V 

THE  KING'S  MARRIAGE 
1723-1725 

The  Court  at  the  Regent's  death.  Fleury's  patience.  The  Due 
de  Bourbon  and  the  Marquise  de  Prie.  The  new  government. 
Its  unpopularity.  Results  of  the  abdication  of  Philip  V.  The 
marriage  of  the  Regent's  son.  The  Infanta  sent  away.  The 
candidates  for  the  French  throne.  The  sisters  of  Monsieur  le  Due. 
The  overtures  of  Catherine  I.  Marie  Leszczjmska.  Her  life  at 
Wissembourg.  Correspondence  between  the  Marquise  de  Prie 
and  Stanislas.  The  Polonaise.  Talk  of  a  mesalliance.  A 
parody  of  the  Ecole  des  Femmes.  The  vengeance  of  Spain.  The 
marriage  celebrated  at  Fontainebleau.  Stanislas  Leszczynski's 
advice  to  the  Queen  of  France. 

A  FTER  the  death  of  Dubois,  the  Due  d'Orleans,  whose 
/\  Regency  came  to  an  end  with  Louis'  majority,  had 
-^  -^  accepted  the  office  of  Prime  Minister,  which  thus  became 
vacant  once  more,  on  December  2,  1723.  His  successor  was 
The  Court  at  appointed  the  same  evening.  Louis-Henri  de 
the  Regent's  Bourbon,  called  Monsieur  le  Due,  was  at  Ver- 
Death.  sailles  when  Philippe  died.     He  had  no  difficulty 

in  gaining  the  approval  of  the  King  and  Fleury.  The  Bishop 
supported  the  prince's  candidature,  Louis  made  a  sign  of 
assent,  and  the  new  minister  immediately  took  the  oath  of 
his  office.  This  great-grandson  of  the  great  Conde  did  not 
owe  his  promotion  to  his  intelligence  or  his  capacity,  but  he  was 
the  only  member  of  the  Royal  Family  in  a  position  to  take  up 
the  post.  The  two  legitimized  brothers,  the  Due  du  Maine  and 
the  Comte  de  Toulouse,  were  out  of  favour  ;  the  former  and 
his  wife  were  distrusted  ;  while  the  latter  was  said  to  be  too 
honest  a  man  to  make  a  good  minister. 

There  were  other  princes  of  the  blood-royal,  but  nearly  all 
were  born  after  1700  and  were  too  young  to  be  serious  rivals 

57 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

to  the  Due  do  Bourbon.  There  was  Louis,  Due  de  Chartrcs,  the 
only  son  of  the  Regent,  who  showed  an  incUnation  to  expiate  his 
father's  excesses  by  hving  a  hfe  of  piety.  Tliere  were  the  two 
younger  brothers  of  tlic  new  minister,  the  Comte  de  Charolais, 
a  rough,  ill-tempered  man,  and  the  Comte  de  Clermont.  There 
were  the  Prince  de  Dombes  and  the  Comte  d'Eu,  sons  of  the 
Due  du  Maine  ;  lastly,  there  was  the  Prince  de  Conti,  who  was 
of  the  youngest  branch  of  the  Bourbon-Cond6s,  born  in  1695,  and 
married  to  a  sister  of  Monsieur  le  Due.  But  neither  husband 
nor  wife  was  popular  at  Court. 

The  only  man  of  real  consequence  was  Fleury  ;  but  the 
preceptor  of  Louis  XV  was  one  of  those  who  are  patient  in  their 
ambitions.  lie  knew  that  his  time  would  come,  for  the  sincere 
affection  with  which  he  had  inspired  his  royal  pupil  was  a 
guarantee  for  the  future. 

The  Due  de  Bourbon  was  born  in  1692  and  was  therefore 
thirty-one  when  he  came  into  power.  In  his  early  youth  he  was 
The  Due  de  rather  good-looking,  but  one  of  his  eyes  had  been 
Bourbon.  put  out  by  the  Due  de  Berri  while  hunting,  and 

this  disfigured  him.  By  degrees  he  lost  his  figure  and  became  as 
thin  as  a  lath.  Being  too  tall,  he  began  to  stoop,  his  stork-like 
legs  could  hardly  support  his  body,  and  his  eyes  were  so  red  that 
the  good  eye  could  hardly  be  distinguished  from  the  blind  one  ; 
in  fact,  he  was  "  hardly  of  a  prepossessing  appearance."  This 
description  of  him  is  taken  from  Madame  l*alatine  and  Tous- 
saint.  His  temper  was  short  and  suspicious  ;  he  would  have 
been  unpopular  even  without  the  bitter  feeling  felt  towards  him 
by  the  many  victims  of  Law's  System,  by  wliich  he  had  been 
enriched.  His  large  fortune  enabled  him  to  live  in  great  style. 
He  loved  rare  and  precious  things,  and  helped  to  make  Chantilly 
a  Chateau  worthy  of  a  great  nobleman.  As  a  minister  he 
proved  to  be  shallow  and  ignorant,  and  none  were  surprised. 
He  had  little  credit  with  the  King  and  never  transacted  business 
with  him  in  private,  a  condition  im})osed  on  him  by  the  Bishop 
of  Frejus,  wlien  he  agreed  to  projjose  the  Duke's  appointment 
to  Louis.  His  weak  character  made  him  a  puppet  in  the  hands 
of  a  young  woman,  the  Marquise  de  Pric,  daughter  of  Berthelot 
dc  Pl^neuf,  the  farmer  of  the  revenues  whose  good  name  was 
compromised  at  the  time  of  the  Chambre  dc  Justice.  The  Duke 
58 


THE    KING'S    MARRIAGE 

inaugurated  the  period  of  feminine  interference  in  affairs  of 
State.  He  was  a  contrast  to  the  Regent,  who  divided  his  hfe 
into  two  distinct  parts,  never  allowed  pleasure  to  interfere  with 
politics,  and  always  kept  the  secrets  of  the  government  with 
jealous  reserve.  Philippe  d'Orldans  had  followed  his  mother's 
advice  when  she  wrote  in  1715  :  "  I  have  resolved  not  to 
interfere.  Between  ourselves,  France  has,  to  her  detriment, 
been  too  long  governed  by  women  "  (she  was  thinking  of 
her  great  enemy,  Madame  de  Maintenon).  "  I  wish  my 
example  to  be  useful  to  my  son,  that  he  may  let  no  woman 
lead  him." 

The  Marquise  de  Prie,  Agnes  Berthelot  de  Pl^neuf,  was 
twenty-five  years  old  in  1725.  She  was  an  attractive  person- 
The  Marquise  ality ;  she  had  shone  as  ambassadress  at  Turin 
de  Prie.  and  immediately  on  her  return  to  France  she 

had  distinguished  herself  by  her  genius  for  intrigue.  She 
had  plotted  against  Le  Blanc,  Minister  for  War,  against 
the  Belle-Isles,  and  against  her  own  mother.  She  was  now 
to  have  wider  scope  for  her  activities,  for  she  was  to 
govern  the  State  and  gain  great  profit  thereby,  though  gain 
was  indeed  a  secondary  consideration  to  her,  and  she  would 
have  been  contented  with  a  modest  fortune  provided  she 
had  power.  But  all  her  ambitions  were  realized ;  her  term 
of  power  resulted  in  a  large  revenue  for  herself  at  the  expense 
of  France. 

President  Renault  has  drawn  a  charming  pen-portrait  of  the 
Marquise.  "  She  was  of  a  slender  build  and  above  medium 
height ;  she  had  the  form  and  the  air  of  a  nymph,  a  delicate 
face,  pretty  cheeks,  a  well-made  nose,  and  ash-coloured  hair. 
Her  eyes  were  slightly  almond-shaped  but  bright  and  gay  ;  as  a 
whole  her  face  was  refined  and  distinguished.  Nature  had 
endowed  her  with  all  the  gifts  essential  to  the  art  of  coquetry  ; 
her  voice  was  light  like  her  form ;  she  was  very  musical  and 
played  the  harpsichord  extremely  well.  ..."  The  Marquis 
d'Argenson  describes  her  as  "  even  more  graceful  than 
beautiful "  with  "  a  ready  wit  on  all  subjects.  .  .  ." 
These  portraits  tell  us  more  about  the  beautiful  sorceress 
than  Vanloo's  picture  in  which  the  Marquise  is  represented 
holding  a  bird,  a  symbol  of  the  attraction  of  this  captivating 

59 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

creature.     The  allusion  in  the  verses  underneath  is  suflicicntly 

obvious  : 

Sur  votro  l)clle  main,  cc  captif  ciichanle 
Dc  Tailc  nu'jjiisant  Ic  secours  ct  rusagc, 
t'oiitcut  (If  badincr,  dc  pousscr  son  raniage, 
N'a  pas,  pour  ctrc  licurcux,  bcsoin  de  liberty. 
Le  cceur,  ne  libre,  Iris,  n'a  de  plus  chore  envie, 
Que  d'atteindre  au  plus  tot  le  temps  de  s'engagcr  ; 
Est-il  couie  se  temps  si  doux,  mais  trop  leger, 
Ah  !  que  la  liberte  nous  pese  dans  la  vie  !  * 

And  when  Trdmoliercs  describes  Monsieur  le  Due  and  Madame 
de  Prie  in  the  characters  of  Rinaldo  and  Armida,  he  confirms 
Vanloo's  graceful  allegory. 

The  Marquise  has  been  compared  to  Agn^s,  but  she  had 
nothing  of  the  ingenue  except  a  feigned  candour  and  a  i)retended 
na'iveii  ;  her  grace,  her  youth,  her  nymph-like  form  of  which 
Saint-Simon  also  speaks,  her  modest  air,  her  mind  which 
appeared  so  cultivated,  her  experience  of  the  world  and  foreign 
courts,  all  these  attributes  were  deceptive.  Clever  and  artful,  she 
knew  that  it  was  essential  to  keep  the  Duke  in  the  mistaken 
belief  that  he  was  able  and  independent.  She  pretended  to 
interfere  with  nothing  and  to  wait  until  affairs  were  communi- 
cated to  her.  She  chose  Paris-Duverney,  Law's  adversary,  as 
intermediary  between  herself  and  the  Prime  Minister.  She  made 
him  Minister  of  Finance.  Paris-Duverney  reversed  Law's  System ; 
he  did  away  with  paper  money  and  sought  to  lower  the  price 
of  provisions  by  decreasing  the  value  of  specie.  He  lowered 
the  value  of  the  louis  d'or  from  twenty-seven  livres  to  fourteen, 
and  caused  strikes  by  trying  to  introduce  a  fixed  scale  of  wages 
and  prices  in  spite  of  economic  laws  and  the  relations  of  supply 
and  demand.  President  Henault  asserts  that  Paris  advised  the 
Duke  after  consultation  with  the  Marquise,  while  that  clever 
person,  to  keep  up  the  illusion,  even  contradicted  the  Duke 
when  he  consulted  her.  He  never  ceased  to  admire  the  intelli- 
gence with  which  she  grasped  questions  that  he  believed  her 
to  be  handling  for  the  first  time.     The  known  astuteness  of 

*  On  your  fair  hand  the  enchanted  captive  scorns  to  use  its  wings  to 
fly  away  ;  it  is  content  to  sport  and  warble  ;  for  happiness  it  needs  not 
liberty.  Iris,  the  freeborn  lieart  has  no  more  fond  desire  than  to  seek 
the  opportunity  to  enslave  itself.  Has  it  passed,  this  hour  so  pleasant, 
but  too  fleeting  ?  Ah  !  how  oppressive  is  a  life  of  liberty  I 
GO 


THE    KING'S    MARRIAGE 

Madame  de  Prie  makes  this  subterfuge  very  probable.  With 
the  aid  of  two  secretaries  she  manipulated  all  decisions,  adding 
recommendations  with  her  own  hand  to  the  petitions  presented 
to  the  Prime  Minister. 

Such  were  the  masters  of  the  kingdom  :  a  false  Agn^s  and  a 
foolish  and  narrow-minded  nobleman  ;  and  their  policy  was 
purely  egotistical.  The  most  important  event  of  their  adminis- 
tration was  Louis'  marriage,  a  very  daring  enterprise.  The  Due 
de  Bourbon  further  distinguished  himself  at  the  beginning  of  his 
ministry  by  some  fiscal  reforms,  among  which  we  find  a  decrease 
in  the  duties  on  corn  and  dairy  produce  coming  into  Paris ;  by 
improvements  on  the  Saint-Quentin  canal  from  the  Somme  to 
the  Oise,  and  the  institution  of  a  ballot  to  decide  who  should 
serve  in  the  militia  of  60,000  soldiers,  which  later  performed  such 
splendid  services  in  the  wars  of  the  eighteenth  century.  But  his 
inexperience  and  his  despotic  nature  caused  him  to  introduce 
some  very  unpopular  measures,  such  as  the  persecution  of  the 
Protestants  and  Jansenists  whom  the  Regency  had  left  in 
peace,  the  mendicancy  laws  which  condemned  old  offenders  to 
the  galleys,  and  the  tax  on  the  fiftieth  of  all  the  revenues  of  the 
kingdom  which  was  decreed  for  ten  years.  This  tax  gave 
rise  to  the  following  witty  verses  : 

Prince,  quelle  misere  extreme  ! 
Vous  imposez  le  cinquantieme 
Quand  vous  nous  savez  sans  argent ! 
Pour  votre  maudit  ministere, 
Le  cinquantieme  du  bon  sens 
Vous  serez  bien  plus  necessaire.* 

Happily,  no  foreign  complication  arose  to  reveal  the  weak- 
ness of  the  Government.  But  the  Due  de  Bourbon  had  a  lucky 
escape  when  Mariannita  was  sent  home,  for  Spain  in  her  anger 
nearly  fired  the  powder. 

In  1722  Noailles  had  said :  *'  The  marriage  of  the  Infanta 
will  end  as  Law's  System  did."  The  Marshal  was  exiled  as 
The  Infanta  ^  reward  for  his  prophecy,  but  events  proved 
sent  back  that  he  was  right.     On  April  5,  1725,   Philip's 

to  Spain.  daughter  left  the  Louvre  and  the  garden  which 

still  bears  her  name,  without  saying  good-bye  to  the  King,  and 

*  Prince,  how  extreme  is  our  misery  !  You  impose  the  "  fiftieth  " 
when  you  know  we  have  no  money  !  For  your  wretched  ministry  a 
"  fiftieth  "  of  good  sense  would  be  far  more  necessary. 

61 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

went  back  to  S})ain  in  charge  of  the  Duehcsse  dc  Tallard,  never 
to  return.  They  had  sufficient  tact  to  tell  the  poor  Infanta 
that  "  her  parents  wanted  to  see  her."' 

After  the  Rctrent's  death  there  had  liecn  countless  intrigues 
directed  towards  undoing  all  he  had  done  and  against  the  House 
of  Orleans,  whose  power  excited  the  jealousy  of  the  House  of 
Conde.  Henri  dc  Bourl)on  could  not  support  the  idea  that  the 
crown  of  Spain  should  ho  the  appanage  of  a  rival  family.  But 
when  Philip  abdicated  on  January  14,  1724,  in  favour  of  his  son, 
the  Prince  of  Asturias,  who  became  King  under  the  title  of  Louis 
I,  Louise-Elisabeth,  the  daughter  of  the  Due  d'Orleans,  became 
Queen.^  Moreover,  on  July  13,  1724,  the  Regent's  son  married 
Marie  Jeanne,  Princess  of  Baden,  who  was  destined  to  assure  the 
succession  by  giving  birth  to  a  prince  in  May  12,  1725.  If  Louis 
XV  were  to  die  \\dthout  an  heir,  the  French  throne  would  pass  | 
to  the  descendants  of  the  younger  branch.  The  Prime  Minister 
had  many  sisters  to  establish,  and  he  hoped  to  profit  by  his 
position  and  benefit  his  family  by  raising  Mile,  de  Sens  or 
Mile,  de  Vermandois  to  the  throne.  He  secretly  pursued  this  - 
purpose,  and  suddenly  the  young  King's  health  gave  cause  for 
some  anxiety,  which  for  political  reasons  was  exaggerated. 
On  February  18,  1725,  he  awoke  with  a  fever  and  was  ill  all  day  ; 
towards  evening  he  began  to  improve,  but  while  the  doctors  were 
busy  at  his  bedside  the  two  factions  at  Court  held  councils  so  as 
to  be  prepared  for  anything  which  might  happen.  The  Dowager 
Duehcsse  d'Orleans  summoned  her  son  and  his  partisans,  while 
Monsieur  le  Due  and  the  Marquise  de  Prie  conferred  with 
Marshal  de  Villars,  the  Minister  of  War,  and  Morvillc,  the 
Secretary  of  State. 

It  had  already  been  decided  that  the  Infanta  should  be 
sent  home  before  this  alarm,  as  it  was  thought  that  her 
Candidates  youth  would  interpose  too  long  a  time  before 
for  the  the    marriage    could    take    place.     The    King's 

King's  hand.  illness  hastened  new  matrimonial  schemes.  The 
Due  dc  Bourbon  was  haunted  by  the  recollection  of  the  death 
of  Louis,  the  young  King  of  Spain,  and  wished  to  assure  the 
fuluro.  Tlie  choice  fell  on  a  princess  whose  character  and 
position  would  leave  Madame  de  Prie  free  to  govern  the  kingdom 
as  she  pleased.  There  were  ninety-nine  candidates  for  the  _| 
C>2 


THE    KING'S    MARRIAGE 

King's  hand,  25  Catholics,  3  Anghcans,  13  Calvinists,  55 
Lutherans  and  3  Greeks.  Inquiries  were  made  in  all  the 
European  courts  where  there  were  marriageable  princesses, 
from  Lisbon  to  St.  Petersburg  and  from  London  to  Athens. 
This  long  list  was  reduced  to  seventeen  names  and  then  to  five ; 
these  were  :  Anne,  daughter  of  the  Prince  of  Wales,  aged  fifteen ; 
her  sister,  Amelia  Sophia  Eleanor,  aged  thirteen  ;  Mile,  de 
Vermandois,  aged  twenty-one,  and  Mile,  de  Sens,  aged  nineteen, 
both  sisters  of  Monsieur  le  Due ;  and  lastly,  Marie,  aged  twenty- 
one,  the  daughter  of  the  dethroned  King  of  Poland,  Stanislas 
Leszczynski  (which  is  the  correct  way  of  spelling  the  name). 
The  objection  to  the  candidature  of  the  two  English  princesses 
was  their  religion  ;  it  was  feared  that  they  might  remain 
Protestant  at  heart  like  Elizabeth  Charlotte,  Monsieur's  second 
wife,  the  mother  of  the  Regent.  Nor  did  George  I  really 
approve  of  the  union.  The  candidates  were  thus  reduced  to 
three,  and  Henri  de  Bourbon  naturally  wished  to  support  the 
candidature  of  one  of  his  sisters  ;  possibly  also  he  desired  to 
avenge  himself  upon  the  Regent's  son  for  refusing  to  marry 
Mile,  de  Vermandois ;  but  Madame  de  Prie  eventually  carried  the 
day.  From  the  Marquise's  point  of  view  Marie  Leszczynska  seemed 
a  perfect  queen.  She  thought  that  the  daughter  of  Stanislas,  who 
was  poor  and  simple,  would  not  forget  the  person  to  whom  she 
owed  her  throne,  and  that  she  would  thus  retain  her  influence. 

A  story  was  started  based  on  supposed  overtures  made  to 
Mile,  de  Vermandois  in  her  convent  at  Fontevrault  near  Chinon, 
Mile,  de  whither  she  had  retired  from  the  world  without 

Vermandois.  taking  any  religious  vows.  Among  others  who 
have  repeated  the  details  of  this  story  are  Voltaire  and  Soulavie. 
It  was  said  that  the  Dowager  Duchesse  de  Bourbon  and  the 
Marquise  de  Prie  visited  Mile,  de  Vermandois,  and  that  the  Mar- 
quise was  disguised  when  she  went  into  the  princess'  presence,  in 
order  to  make  a  sensation.  The  conversation  was  brought 
round  to  Madame  de  Prie,  whereupon  Mile,  de  Vermandois 
changed  her  tone  and  spoke  openly  and  with  copious  invectives 
against  "  the  wicked  creature  "  who  was  the  cause  of  her 
brother's  unpopularity.  The  Marquise  listened  to  this  discourse 
without  flinching  but,  on  leaving  the  room  cried :  "  You  shall 
not  be  Queen  of  France  !  " 
^  63 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

Either  this  scene  was  entirely  invented  by  the  Orleans  fac- 
tion, or  it  was  the  fabrication  of  the  Lorraine  group.  The 
latter  were  closely  allied  to  the  Palais-Royal,  because  Princess 
Elizabeth  (daughter  of  Duke  Leopold),  who  had  been  one  of 
the  rejected  seventeen  candidates,  was  the  first  cousin  of  the 
young  Due  d'Orleans. 

The  real  reason  for  the  rejection  of  two  Bourbon-Conde 
princesses  was  that  Monsieur  le  Due's  sisters  did  not  suit 
Intervention  of  Madame  de  Prie.  Among  the  pretexts  given 
Catherine  of  were  these  :  the  King  could  not  marry  a  subject ; 
Russia.  and  the  Dowager  Duchesse  de  Bourbon,  a  legiti- 

mized daughter  of  Louis  XIV,  would  have  had  too  great  an 
influence  over  her  son  and  daughter.  One  thing  certain  is 
that  the  Marquise,  having  at  last  found  her  ideal  queen,  held 
to  her  choice  and  was  determined  to  have  her  own  way.  Cathe- 
rine, widow  of  Peter  the  Great,  personally  intervened  with  the 
object  of  maintaining  her  husband's  policy.  She  wished  to  ally 
herself  with  Louis  XV  by  giving  him  her  daughter  Elizabeth  ; 
but  she  was  too  late.  The  siege  was  over.  No  political  con- 
sideration could  affect  Madame  de  Prie's  desire  to  see  Marie 
Leszczynska  on  the  throne. 

How  strange  was  the  destiny  of  this  poor  daughter  of  a 
fallen  king  !  In  retirement  with  her  father  and  mother  at 
Wissembourg  in  a  house  put  at  the  disposal  of  her  family  by 
Philip  IMichael  Weber,  Councillor  of  the  Elector  Palatine,  she  led 
an  uncertain  existence  divided  between  piety  and  charity. 
Stanislas  had  been  dispossessed  of  his  kingdom  by  Augustus  II, 
Elector  of  Saxony,  and  by  the  favour  of  the  Regent  he  had  found 
a  refuge  in  this  small  Alsatian  towTi.  With  some  difhculty  he 
contrived  to  live  and  keep  up  some  appearance  of  a  court  in 
company  with  seven  or  eight  gentlemen  who  were  faithful  to 
their  late  King  in  his  misfortune.  His  sole  support  came  from 
the  charity  of  the  monarchs  of  Europe.  The  Due  d'Orleans  gave 
him  a  pension  which  was  not  regularly  paid,  and  assistance  came 
also  from  Si)ain,  Sweden,  and  Lorraine.  He  had  pledged  his 
wife's  jewels  with  a  Frankfort  merchant  and  but  for  Marie's 
unexpected  good  fortune  he  would  never  have  been  able  to 
redeem  them.  Very  few  people  came  to  visit  this  Castle  of 
Indigence  ;  but  Stanislas  was  friendly  with  the  Cardinal  de 
64 


THE    KING'S    MARRIAGE 

Rohan-Soubise  (Armand  Gaston  Maximilicn),  Bishop  of 
Strasburg,  who  Ukcd  to  receive  him  in  his  beautiful  resi- 
dence at  Saverne,  with  the  Andlau  family,  and  Lieutenant- 
General  the  Comte  du  Bourg,  commanding  at  Strasburg,  who 
was  the  "  confidant  of  all  the  troubles  "  of  the  unhappy  prince. 
Marie's  future  gave  him  much  anxiety.  When  the  Due  de 
Bourbon  became  a  widower  in  1720,  he  proposed,  through  the 
Marie  Chevalier    de    Vauchoux,    his    diplomatic    agent, 

Leszczynska.  to  give  him  his  daughter  in  marriage  j-^  out  Anne 
of  Bavaria,  Princess  Palatine,  widow  of  the  great  Conde's  son, 
was  still  living,  and  opposed  her  grandson's  marriage  in  an 
almost  insulting  manner.  Equally  fruitless  were  Stanislas' 
overtures  to  others  such  as  Prince  Ludwig  Georg  of  Baden, 
brother  of  the  Duchesse  d'Orleans,  and  the  Comte  de  Charolais. 
There  was  one  candidate  for  Marie's  hand,  a  gentleman  in 
command  of  a  regiment  of  cavalry  at  Wissembourg  named 
Le  Tellier  de  Courtenvaux  (then  Chevalier  de  Louvois  and 
later  Comte  d'Estrees) ;  but  Stanislas  insisted  that  Courten- 
vaux must  become  a  duke  and  peer  of  France,  and  since  he 
was  unable  to  secure  this  favour  he  was  obliged  to  retire.  At 
this  point  the  Regent  died.  Madame  de  Prie  was  well  aware 
of  events  at  Wissembourg,  and  thanks  to  her  genius  for  intrigue 
she  saw  how  she  might  derive  benefit  from  the  situation.  She 
Correspondence  ^^^  ^^  communication  with  the  Chevalier  de 
between  Vauchoux,  and  since  the  beginning  of  1724  had 

Madame  been  carrying  on  a  correspondence  with  the  sur- 

de  Prie  and  prised  but  greatly  flattered  Stanislas.  The  Mar- 
btamslas.  quise,  under  the  cover  of  letters  of  pure  courtesy, 

made  her  investigations  without  revealing  her  designs.  Mon- 
sieur le  Due  continued  to  hesitate.  The  alarm  given  by  Louis' 
illness  conquered  his  last  scruples  and  finally  on  March  31, 
1725,  he  wrote  to  ask  Stanislas  in  the  name  of  Louis  XV 
for  the  hand  of  his  daughter  in  marriage.  This  letter 
arrived  at  Wissembourg  on  April  2.  The  scene  has  often  been 
described.  The  ex-King  of  Poland  assembled  his  wife  and 
daughter,  told  them  to  kneel  down,  and  addressed  a  prayer  of 
thanksgiving  to  God  without  any  explanation. 

"  Ah  !  my  father,"  said  Marie,  "  then  you  are  recalled  to  the 
throne  of  Poland  ?  " 

E  65 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

"  No,  Heaven  is  far  more  favourable  to  us,"  said  Stanislas  ; 
"  you  arc  Queen  of  France." 

The  news  was  not  published  until  a  month  later  when  the 
Infanta  had  arrived  in  Spain.  Then  a  list  of  the  ladies  who 
were  to  form  part  of  the  future  Queen's  household  was  circulated, 
and  wits  who  knew  Latin  compared  this  household  with  the 
temple  at  Rome  which  bore  the  inscription  :  deo  ignoto, 
to  the  unkiioK'n  god. 

On  Aj)ril  5  Marais  records  in  his  Journal  the  rumours  of  the 
town  and  deals  with  the  Princess  Marie  at  some  length  ;  he 
speaks  of  the  difference  in  their  ages  (she  was  twenty-one  and  the 
King  fifteen),  and  says  that  she  is  well-made  and  well  brought 
up.  Then  he  mentions  the  other  candidates,  explaining  why 
they  could  not  be  chosen,  and  concludes  with  the  following 
"  The  Polish  words:  "So  the  Polish  woman  must  be  chosen 
Woman."  and  we  must  have  a  Queen  whose  name  ends  in 

ski.  A  few  months  ago  people  complained  of  the  Due  d'Orleans 
because  he  had  married  a  princess  of  Baden,  who  was  not  con- 
sidered to  have  come  from  a  sufTiciently  illustrious  family,  and 
now  we  are  to  accept  as  Queen  one  who  is  even  less  exalted." 

On  May  27,  when  Mariannita  had  arrived  in  Spain  and 
was  with  her  parents,  the  King  announced  his  marriage  in  these 
terms  :  "  I  am  marrying  the  Princess  of  Poland.  This  princess, 
who  was  born  on  the  23rd  of  June,  1703,  is  the  only  daughter 
of  Stanislas  Leszczynski,  Count  of  Leszno,  formerly  Starost  of 
Adclnau,  then  Palatine  of  Posnania,  and  finally  elected  King  of 
Poland  in  the  month  of  July  1704,  and  of  Catherine  Opalinska, 
daughter  of  the  Castellan  of  Posnania,  who  are  both  coming  to 
live  in  the  Chateau  of  Saint-Germain-en-Layc  with  King 
Stanislas'  mother,  Anne  Jablonowska."  After  this  Marais 
published  a  diatribe  against  this  marriage  which  depressed  the 
Court  "  as  if  some  one  had  told  them  that  the  King  was 
having  an  apoplectic  fit."  He  said  that  French  hearts  could  not 
love  Poles,  those  Gascons  of  the  North  and  ultra-republicans. 
He  foresaw  "  a  terrible  war  "  in  which  all  Europe  would  be 
leagued  against  France.  "  Perhaps  nothing  will  happen,"  he 
said  in  conclusion  ;  "  everything  is  in  the  hands  of  the  Lord  of 
Hosts."  There  was  some  excitement,  but  it  subsided  when  the 
})eople  saw  the  graciousncss  of  the  demoiselle  Lcszczynska,  as 
GO 


THE    KING'S    MARRIAGE 

she  was  irreverently  called  ;    the  Queen  was  the  Queen,  and 
every  one  bowed  before  the  crown  which  adorned  her  brow. 

The  various  Courts  kept  a  diplomatic  silence.  The  King  of 
Sardinia  alone,  as  grandfather  of  Louis  XV,  made  a  useless 
remonstrance  to  this  "  mesalliance,"  founding  his  opposition 
on  calumnious  reports  which  accused  Marie  of  bodily  defects, 
alleging  that  she  was  epileptic,  that  two  of  her  fingers  were 
webbed,  and  that  she  had  scrofula.  The  Regent's  sister, 
Elisabeth-Charlotte  de  Lorraine,  was  also  much  annoyed  at  not 
having  been  able  to  secure  her  daughter's  claims.  She  poured 
out  her  heart  in  her  letters  to  the  Marquise  d'Aulede  saying  : 
"  If  the  late  King  could  see  what  is  happening  to  France, 
I  think  he  would  be  surprised.  ...  It  seems  to  me  that  mes- 
alliances are  very  much  in  fashion  ,  .  .  since  they  have  now  even 
reached  the  sacred  person  of  the  King  ;  I  shall  say  no  more.  .  .  . 
In  marrying  her  he  will  do  a  very  novel  thing,  for  he  will  be,  I 
think,  the  first  of  our  Kings  to  marry  a  simple  demoiselle.  .  .  . 
Everyone  laughs  at  it.  .  .  ." 

Voltaire  himself,  who  later  was  so  subservient  to  the  Queen 
and  flattered  her  as  he  never  failed  to  flatter  the  favourites  of  the 
moment,  allowed  himself  to  write  to  the  wife  of  the  President  de 
Bernieres  :  "  The  marriage  of  Louis  XV  is  detrimental  to  poor 
Voltaire.  They  do  not  speak  of  paying  any  pensions,  or  even  of 
keeping  them  up  ;  but  they  are  going  to  have  a  new  tax  to  buy 
Parody  on  the  ^^^^  ^^^  stuffs  for  the  demoiselle  Leszczynska." 
Ecole  des  Pamphleteers  entered  the  field.  The  most  signi- 

Femmes.  ficant  of  their  satires  was  a  parody  on  the  Ecole 

des  Femmes  in  which  the  Marquise  de  Prie  says  to  the  Queen  : 

Notre  roi  vous  epouse  et,  cent  fois  la  journee, 
Vous  devez  benir  I'heur  de  votre  destinee. 
Contemplez  la  bassesse  ou  vous  avez  ete, 
Et  du  prince  qui  m'aime  admirez  la  boute, 
Qui,  de  I'etat  obscur  de  simple  demoiselle, 
Sur  le  trone  des  lys  par  mon  choix  vous  appelle  .  .  . 
Nous  ne  pretendons  pas,  en  vous  declarant  reine, 
Que  sur  lui,  ni  sur  moi,  vous  soyez  souveraine  ; 
Vous  gouterez  en  paix  les  plaisirs  les  plus  doux  ; 
Les  affaires  d'Etat  n'iront  point  jusqu'a  vous  ...  * 

*  Our  King  is  marrying  you,  and  a  hundred  times  a  day  you  must 
bless  the  fortune  of  your  fate.    Think  on  the  lowliness  of  your  former 

67 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

Marie  was  spared  nothing.  They  reminded  her  of  \.hv  pro- 
posed marriage  witii  Courtenvaux  and  the  rejection  of  the 
Infanta — 

Preuve  ccrtaine 
Qu'^  rompre  (in  autre  hymen  on  n'aura  p^s  dc  peine* 

if  she  was  not  entirely  in  subjection  to  her  "  real  master  "  the 
Due  de  Bourbon. 

"  The  '  afTair  '  has  become  pubhc  and  therefore  those  who 
wished  to  frustrate  it  are  disconcerted,"  wrote  the  Due  dc 
Bourbon  to  Stanislas  on  the  day  of  the  proclamation.  He  also 
\\Tote  a  very  skilful  letter  to  the  future  Queen  in  which  he  did  not 
fear  to  allude  to  the  marriage  that  had  been  proposed  between 
Marie  and  himself  :  "  Permit  me,"  he  said  at  the  end  of  his 
letter,  "  to  say  here  that  your  Majesty  is  under  all  the  more 
obhgation  to  me,  because  I  cannot  think  without  regret  that  I 
sacrificed  to  you  a  hope  on  which  all  the  happiness  of  my  life 
depended.  But  the  respect  which  I  owe  to  a  princess  mIio  will 
always  be  my  Queen  and  Mistress,  does  not  permit  me  to  say 
more  on  this  subject." 

The  King's  marriage  had  no  political  significance ;  this 
was  the  great  mistake  to  be  laid  to  the  charge  of  Madame 
Spanish  de    Prie    and    the    Chief   Minister.     It    was    not 

Vengeance.  displeasing  to  the  Court  of  Spain,  but  Philip, 
nevertheless,  had  serious  cause  for  irritation.  The  over- 
tures that  Monsieur  le  Due  had  made  to  the  English  Court 
proved  that  George  I  had  known  of  the  rejection  of  the  Infanta 
before  himself,  and  he  felt  bitterly  this  affront  which  excited 
the  most  violent  anger.'-  The  immediate  result  was  the  de- 
parture of  Louise-Elisabeth  of  Orleans,  widow^  of  Louis  I,  who 
became  Dowager  Queen  of  Spain  at  the  age  of  sixteen,  and 
of  her  sister.  Mile,  de  Beaujolais,  affianced  to  Don  Carlos ;  they 
were  sent  from  Spain  in  such  haste  that  at  Bayonne  they  had  to 

estate,  and  admire  the  generosity  of  the  prinee  who  loves  me.  For,  from 
the  humble  state  of  a  simj)le  gentlewf)man,  through  my  ehoiee  lie  ealls  you 
to  the  throne  of  lihcs.  We  do  not  pretend  that  in  deelaring  yoti  queen,, 
you  arc  to  be  sovereign  over  him  or  me  ;  in  peace  you  will  tiiste  the  choicest 
pleasures  ;  affairs  of  State  will  not  affect  you. 

•  A  certain  proof  that  it  would  not  be  difhcult  to  break  off  another 
marriage. 
08 


THE    KING'S    MARRIAGE 

await  an  escort  to  attend  them  on  their  journey.  Thus  ended 
the  brilliant  hopes  that  their  father  had  conceived  for  their 
future  in  Spain. 

But  the  Court  had  no  time  to  trouble  about  these  princesses. 
It  was  busy  preparing  for  the  ceremonies  at  Strasbourg  and 
Fontainebleau  and  could  speak  only  of  Marie  Leszczynska. 
Every  one  listened  eagerly  to  any  details  of  her  faults  or  her 
qualities,  especially  the  former. 

She  was  not  beautiful,  but  her  face  was  full  of  expression 
and  possessed  that  undeniable  charm  which  increased  with 
Portraits  o£  age — a  characteristic  well  brought  out  in  the 
the  Queen.  striking  portrait  by  La  Tour,  painted  twenty 
years  later,  which  now  hangs  as  fresh  as  ever  in  the  Louvre. 
Those  who  knew  her  at  Wissembourg  said  she  looked  like 
a  bourgeoise  and  that  her  disposition  seemed  sullen  to  those 
who  saw  her  every  day.  But  it  is  impossible  to  believe  that 
the  great  portrait-painter  of  St.  Quentin,  so  faithful  in  por- 
traying both  the  soul  and  the  outward  form  of  his  models, 
could  be  absolutely  misleading.  He  shows  us  a  woman,  clothed 
it  is  true,  like  some  rich  private  individual,  but  gracious  and 
refined,  with  intelligent  eyes  and  a  smile  full  of  indulgent  kind- 
ness. 

At  Versailles  there  is  a  great  state  portrait  either  by  Gobert 
or  Belle,  painted  at  the  time  of  the  marriage,  in  which  the  Queen 
is  shown  holding  a  large  bunch  of  lilies  and  followed  by  a  page 
in  Polish  costume.  The  studied  stiffness  and  forced  smile  of 
the  central  figure  denote  an  inferior  artist  obviously  attempting 
to  imitate  Santerre's  portrait  of  the  Duchesse  de  Bourgogne. 

Then  there  are  the  written  descriptions.  First  of  all  that  of 
Sieur  LoziHiere,  called  the  Chevalier  de  Mere,  a  tool  of  Madame 
de  Prie,  who  was  sent  to  Wissembourg  and  afterwards  to  several 
of  the  German  courts  in  order  to  allay  suspicion.  Lozilli^re 
has  a  natural  tendency  towards  eulogy.  He  did  not  forget 
any  detail  of  her  appearance,  from  her  good  complexion  (fresh 
water  in  summer  and  snow  in  winter  provided  Marie's  whole 
make-up)  to  her  sweet  and  pleasant  voice.  He  finishes  with 
these  words  :  "  Without  being  beautiful,  this  princess  is  lovable 
for  her  wit,  goodness  and  behaviour ;  she  is  a  combination  of 
all  the  virtues."     Such  is  the  natural  refuge  of  anyone  who  has 

69 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

to  speak  of  a  bride  who  lacks  beauty.  It  must  be  admitted 
that  according  to  all  the  contemporary  writers  the  future 
Queen  was  not  the  equal  in  looks  of  "the  handsomest  young 
man  in  the  kingdom."  Marie  with  her  heavy  shoulders  and  her 
breadth  of  body  made  the  slender  youth  of  Louis  XV  the  more 
noticeable. 

"  I  agree  that  she  is  ugly,"  wrote  the  Due  d'Antin  to  Morvillc, 
"  but  she  pleases  me  above  everything  that  I  can  express."  The 
intriguers  were  very  active.  Scandal-mongers  passed  their 
tales  from  mouth  to  mouth,  until  the  Queen  was  made  out  to  be 
an  absolute  monster. 

On  dit  qu'ellc  est  hideusc, 
Mais  cehi  ne  fait  rien, 
Car  elle  est  vertueuse, 
Et  tres  fiUe  de  bien  !  * 

Monsieur  de  Confians,  who  was  sent  to  tell  the  King  of  the 
celebration  of  the  marriage  at  Strasburg,  gave  a  just  account 
of  her.  Villars  says,  "  He  reassured  us  about  the  Queen,  who, 
as  he  tells  us,  is  certainly  amiable,  not  beautiful,  but  far  removed 
frofn  the  ugliness  which  is  generally  attributed  to  her." 

The  whole  Court  met  at  the  capital  of  Alsace  on  August  15  ; 
the  Due  d'Antin,  Ambassador  Extraordinary  to  Stanislas, 
accompanied  by  the  Comte  de  Beauvais  and  the  Marquis  de 
Dreux,  Grand  Master  of  the  Ceremonies,  Mile,  de  Clermont, 
Superintendent  of  the  Queen's  Household,  and  with  her  the 
ladies  of  the  Palace,  amongst  whom  was  the  Marquise  de  Prie, 
who  had  not  forgotten  herself. 

Stanislas,  on  his  part,  did  his  best  to  make  some  show  of 
royalty  to  honour  the  occasion,  aided  by  his  relative  and  general 
factotum  the  Count  of  Tarlo,  and  Baron  of  Meszek,  Marshal  of 
the  Palace.  The  Comtesse  de  Linange  acted  as  Lady  of  Honour 
to  Marie.  With  some  difTieiilty  and  firally  through  the  good 
ofhees  of  the  Marshal  du  Bourg,  six  pages  were  mustered.  Tiie 
Due  d'Orl(^ans  was  the  most  important  person  present  ;  he 
was  to  marry  the  Queen  by  proxy,  this  honour  being  given  to 
him  because  he  was  first  prince  of  the  blood-royal  ;    but  there 

*  Thcysay  she  is  liidcous,  but  that  matters  naugiit,  for  she  is  virtuous 
and  very  good. 
70 


THE    KING'S    MARRIAGE 

was  a  certain  irony  in  this  chance  which  made  the  son  the  instru- 
ment for  the  undoing  of  his  father's  work. 

The  Cardinal  Bishop  de  Rohan,  surrounded  by  his  clergy, 
received  the  procession  at  the  door  of  the  Cathedral.  Marie 
entered  the  church  between  her  father  and  mother  ;  in  front 
of  her  went  the  Due  d'Or leans  and  two  ambassadors.  The 
prelate  gave  a  dignified  address  before  the  mass  and  the  nuptial 
benediction.  The  roar  of  cannon  and  a  Te  Deum  concluded 
the  ceremony. 

The  Queen  dined  in  public,  "served  by  officers  of  the  King, 
her  husband,"  then  she  returned  to  the  Cathedral  for  the 
Procession  of  the  Vow  of  Louis  XIII.  There  were  popular 
fetes  in  the  afternoon  and  in  the  evening  a  wonderful  firework 
display,  while  food  and  wine  was  distributed  at  the  public 
foimtains. 

Madame  de  Prie  did  not  waste  her  time  in  Strasburg ;  she 
gave  Stanislas  a  letter  from  Monsieur  le  Due,  which  said  :  "  Your 
Majesty  has  shown  me  so  much  kindness  that  I  have  thought 
you  might  allow  me  to  take  the  liberty  of  instructing  you  on 
many  of  the  things  which  are  happening  in  the  country  ;  but 
as  prudence  forbids  me  to  write  them  and  as  I  can  trust  Madame 
de  Prie's  discretion,  I  have  charged  her  to  inform  your  Majesty 
and  to  hide  nothing,  believing  that  there  are  many  things 
our  future  Queen  would  be  glad  to  know."  The  nets  were 
spread  and  the  traps  all  ready  ;  Madame  de  Prie,  no  doubt, 
spoke  with  as  much  eloquence  as  ability.  She  brought  presents 
to  the  Queen  and  talked  of  her  own  exalted  position  with  an 
incredible  want  of  tact.  She  even  offered  her  chemises,  not 
hesitating  thus  to  humiliate  the  poor  daughter  of  Stanislas,  who 
accepted  them  with  a  smile.  .  .  . 

On  August  17  Marie  set  out  for  Fontainebleau.  The 
weather  she  experienced  was  execrable  ;  it  never  ceased  to  rain 
during  the  whole  journey.  Several  times  the  Queen's  coach 
stuck  fast  in  the  mud.  The  crops  were  injured  by  the  floods, 
and  the  summer  of  1725  was  remembered  as  a  time  when  the 
evils  of  nature  were  made  worse  by  the  maladministration  of 
Monsieur  le  Due.  Bread  was  so  scarce  that  there  were  riots 
both  in  Paris  and  the  provinces,  and  the  bakers'  shops  were 
pillaged.     The  Prime  Minister  and  the  favourite  were  accused 

71 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

of  speculating  in  corn  and  of  making  large  profits  out  of  the 
])cople's  distress. 

Faithful  to  her  reputation,  Marie  distributed  alms  at  each 
halt.  The  fifteen  tliousand  li\Tes  sent  her  for  largesse  >verc 
soon  exhausted.  Everywhere  she  went  she  was  feted,  and 
heard  highly  coloured  addresses.  Her  good  sense  and  tact 
prevented  her  from  losing  her  head,  as  is  shown  by  the  charming 
letter  to  her  father,  quoted  by  the  Abb6  Proyart  :  "  There  is 
nothing  that  these  good  French  people  will  not  do  to  divert  me. 
They  say  the  prettiest  things  in  the  world  ;  but  no  one  tells  me 
that  you  are  near  me.  Perhaps  they  will  tell  me  so  later,  for  I 
am  journeying  in  fairyland,  and  am  indeed  under  a  magic  sway. 
I  pass  through  transformations  every  instant,  and  each  seems 
more  brilliant  than  the  one  before.  At  one  place  I  have  the 
virtues  of  an  angel ;  at  another  the  sight  of  me  makes  people 
happy  ;  yesterday  I  was  the  wonder  of  the  world  ;  to-day 
I  aih  a  star  of  benign  import.  Every  one  docs  his  best  to  deify 
me,  and  to-morrow,  doubtless,  I  shall  be  higher  than  the 
immortals.  To  break  the  spell,  I  put  my  hand  up  to  my  head  ; 
and  then,  my  dearest  papa,  I  find  her  whom  you  love,  and  who 
loves  you  too  so  tenderly,  your  dear  Maruehna." 

The  young  wife  who  could  write  these  lines  must  have  had 
wit  as  well  as  heart.  Very  soon  she  appeared  wearisome  and 
ill-humoured.  Doubtless  her  new  surroundings  changed  her 
character,  but  she  was  still  lovable  to  those  who  could  gain  her 
affection  and  conquer  her  shyness. 

The  meeting  between  husband  and  wife  took  place  near 
Morct,  at  a  spot  which  has  still  retained  the  name  of  Tiie  Queen's 
Marriaee  of  Crossways  (Carrcfour  dc  la  Reine).  A  small 
Louis  XV  monument   was    erected    to    commemorate    the 

and  Marie  event.     Louis  was   kept  waiting   for  some  time 

Leszczynska.  owing  to  the  badness  of  the  roads,  which  made  the 
progress  of  the  coaches  extremely  difficult.  It  was  sometimes 
necessary  to  attach  more  than  thirty  Jiorses  to  Marie's  coach  to 
drag  it  out  of  the  ruts.  Barbier  relates  that  all  the  King's 
Household  was  smothered  in  mud.  A  carpet  and  flooring  were 
placed  on  the  ground.  The  queen  alighted  and  was  about  to 
fall  on  her  knees,  but  Louis  allowed  her  to  make  no  more  than 
a  formal  obeisance;  then  he  raised  and  embraced  her  with  an 
72 


THE    KING'S    MARRIAGE 

ardour  that  had  never  before  been  seen  in  him.  He  entered  the 
coach  with  the  Duchesse  d'Orleans,  and  accompanied  his  wife 
to  Moret,  where  he  remained  for  half  an  hour  talking  to  her  with 
extreme  affability.  Marie  spent  the  night  in  this  little  town, 
and  the  next  day,  September  5,  she  reached  Fontainebleau  at 
about  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning.  The  marriage  was  celebrated 
in  the  chapel  of  the  palace.  The  scene  was  magnificent,  every- 
where was  the  glitter  of  embroidered  dresses,  robes  covered  with 
precious  stones  and  hangings  ornamented  with  golden  fleurs- 
de-lis.  The  procession  was  announced  by  trumpets,  fifes  and 
drums  ;  it  started  from  the  King's  Great  Chamber,  crossed  the 
Gallery  of  Francis  I,  and  arrived  at  the  Staircase  of  Honour, 
which  was  lined  by  the  Hundred  Swiss.  Louis  came  first,  a 
picture  of  youthful  grace,  preceded  by  the  princes  of  the  blood, 
the  Comtes  de  Charolais  and  de  Clermont  and  the  Prince  de 
Conti  ;  then  came  the  Queen  escorted  by  the  Due  de  Bourbon 
and  the  Due  d'Orleans  ;  she  wore  a  violet  train,  lined  with 
ermine,  which  was  borne  by  the  Dowager  Duchesse  de  Bourbon, 
the  Princesse  de  Conti,  and  Mile,  de  Charolais.  She  was  followed 
by  the  Duchesse  d'Orleans,  Mile,  de  Clermont,  and  Mile,  de  la 
Roche -sur- Yon,  sister  of  the  Prince  de  Conti.  Attending  the 
various  royalties  came  the  dignitaries  of  the  Court,  officers 
and  knights  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  maids-of-honour,  heralds 
at  arms,  Scotch  guards,  and  bodyguards  with  their  shining 
arms. 

The  Cardinal  de  Rohan,  Grand  Almoner  of  France,  again 
officiated  and  gave  the  address.  At  Strasburg  he  had  drawn  a 
touching  picture  of  the  vicissitudes  of  Stanislas  and  had  spoken 
his  praises  ;  on  this  occasion  he  addressed  himself  particularly 
to  Louis,  exalting  the  greatness  of  his  ancestors,  and  finally  he 
presented  him  with  a  wife  whom  God  had  made  after  His  ov/n 
heart,  "  a  virtuous  and  prudent  woman."  The  nuptial  bene- 
diction was  given,  and  while  medals  struck  in  honour  of  the 
occasion  were  being  distributed,  music  burst  forth,  and  hymns 
of  thanksgiving  filled  the  vaulted  roof  of  the  chapel. 

The  procession  returned  again  to  the  royal  apartments. 
After  dinner  the  Due  de  Mortemart  presented  the  Queen  with 
a  velvet  casket  embroidered  with  gold  containing  "  the  splendid 
trifles  which  are  called  the  corbeille  (wedding  gifts)."     The 

73 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

Queen  distributed  them  to  her  household,  saying  "  This  is  the 
first  time  that  I  have  been  able  to  make  presents." 

The  day  ended  with  a  display  given  by  the  court  actors  ; 
plays  of  Moli^rc  were  selected  so  that  no  one  might  be  olTendcd. 
The  result  was  that  Voltaire,  who  had  prepared  an  entertain- 
ment, decided  that  the  Amphitryon  and  the  MMccin  malgri 
lui  were  not  a  suitable  choice  ;  he  criticized  everything  even  to 
the  display  of  fireworks  given  at  about  half -past  eleven  after 
supper,  "  with  many  rockets  and  little  originality  "  ;  he  saw 
nothing  in  the  festivities  but  noise,  crowds,  uproar,  and  tumult. 
A  few  days  later  all  seemed  fair  to  him.  Adriennc  Lecouvreur 
played  his  Marianne.  Madame  de  Prie  presented  him  to 
the  Queen,  and  she  spoke  to  him  of  his  Henriadc,  as  yet 
unpublished,  and  called  him  "  my  poor  Voltaire."  A  pension 
was  granted  to  him,  and  he  quitted  the  ranks  of  the  rhymers 
who  resorted  to  Fontainebleau  and  assailed  the  young  bride  with 
"  Pindaric  odes,  sonnets,  epistles  and  epithalamia."  It  must 
be  admitted  that  Voltaire  was  right  and  that  these  starveling 
poets  must  have  seemed  to  Marie  "  a  band  of  court  jesters." 
They  called  the  King  Alcidcs  or  Adonis,  the  Queen  was  changed 
into  Astraea,  Cypris,  Diana,  or  even  Flora — an  excellent  rhyme 
for  Aurora  !  The  whole  fashionable  mythology  was  resusci- 
tated. Voltaire  dedicated  Marianne  to  the  daughter  of 
Stanislas,  and  was  himself  unable  to  avoid  comparing  her  to  the 
ancient  goddesses  : 

Du  trone  redoutc  que  vous  rcndcz  ainiable, 
Jetez  sur  cet  ecrit  un  coup  d'oeil  favorable  ; 
Daignez  m'encourager  d'un  seal  dc  vos  regards, 
Et  songcz  que  Pallas,  cette  augustc  ddesse, 
Dont  vous  avcz  le  port,  la  bonte,  la  sagesse, 
Est  la  divinite  qui  preside  aux  Beaux-Arts  !  * 

These  uninspired  and  unpoetic  verses  were  the  best  with  whi,ch 
the  Queen  was  afflicted  ! 

In  all  probability  she  read  nothing  but  the  celebrated 
Conseils  written   by   her  father,   which   began  with  the  scrip- 

*  From  your  dread  throne,  that  you  make  so  gracious,  cast  on  these 
lines  a  favourable  glance,  deign  to  encourage  me  with  a  single  look,  and 
remember  that  Pallas,  the  atigust  goddess  whose  bearing  and  grace  and 
wisdom  you  have,  is  the  divinity  who  presides  over  the  Arts. 
74 


THE    KING'S    MARRIAGE 

tural  reminiscence  :  "  Hearken,  my  daughter,  behold  and  give 
ear.  Forget  thy  people  and  thy  father's  house.  ..."  Stanislas 
Advice  of  warned  his  daughter  of  the  dangers  she  would 

King  Stanislas  encounter  at  the  Court,  such  as  grandeur  and  pros- 
to  his  perity  and  flattery  ;  he  enlarged  upon  these  three 

Daughter.  subjects  with    emotion,   showing    all  the   tender 

affection  he  felt  for  his  daughter.  "  Prosperity,"  he  said,  "  is 
the  more  dangerous  in  that  it  is  practically  unknown  to  you  ; 
since  infancy  you  have  participated  so  fully  in  my  adversities 
that,  as  you  are  aware,  there  is  nothing  like  the  experience  of 
misfortune  to  guard  us  from  abusing  our  happiness." ''^^ 
Flattery  inspires  him  to  some  wise  precepts  :  "  You  must  realize 
that  you  will  be  surrounded  by  those  who  will  vie  with  one 
another  to  pay  court  to  you  ;  there  will  be  no  one  who  will  not  be 
prepared  to  obey  you,  to  sacrifice  his  goods,  his  life,  for  your 
service,  but  there  will  be  no  one  who  will  tell  you  the  truth,  or 
who  will  not  think  that  if  he  did  so  he  would  displease  you  and 
risk  his  fortunes.  Though  you  are  surrounded  by  those  who 
are  devotedly  attached  to  you  and  are  most  attentive  in  your 
service,  yet,  on  this  point,  you  are  left  to  yourself,  and  have 
nothing  to  rely  on  but  your  own  good  sense  and  reason." 

Stanislas  sought  for  some  one  on  whom  she  might  rely.  He 
found  only  the  King  and  him  "  who  is  the  depositary  of  all  his 
wishes,"  meaning  Monsieur  le  Due,  to  whom  the  Queen  was 
under  "  an  infinite  obligation."  This  was  the  real  danger  to 
avoid.  But  fortune  blinded  the  King  of  Poland  ;  he  could  not 
foresee  that  the  queen  was  to  shed  her  first  tears  simply  because 
she  had  too  much  confidence  in  the  Due  de  Bourbon. 

Principal  Sources.  National  Archives,  Carton  K.  139, 140  ;  Foreign 
Affairs,  France,  314 ;  Bibl.  Sainte-Genevieve,  MS.  2197. 
Journal  Historique  ou  Pastes  du  rtgne  de  Louis  XV,  Paris,  1766  ;  Memoires 
of  Villars  and  Luynes  ;  Souvenirs  du  Comte  de  Tressan,  Versailles,  1897 ; 
Voltaire,  Correspondence,  Epitres ;  Moufle  d'Angerville,  Vie  privee  de 
Louis  XV,  4  vols.,  London,  1781  ;  Abbe  Proyart,  Vie  de  Marie  Leckzinska, 
1794  ;  Paul  de  Raynal,  Le  Mariage  d^un  Roi,  Paris,  1887  ;  Marquise  de 
Reaulx,  Le  roi  Stanislas  et  Marie  Leczinska,  Paris,  1895  ;  P.  Boye,  Stanislas 
Leszczynski  et  le  troisiime  traitd  de  Vienne,  Nancy,  1898  ;  P.  de  Nolhac, 
Louis  XV  et  Marie  Leczifiska,  Paris,  1902  ;  H.  Thirion,  Madame  de  Prie, 
Paris,  1905. 


75 


CHAPTER  VI 

A  PALACE  REVOLUTION 
1725-1726 

Stanislas  at  Fontaincblcau.  Tlie  honeymoon.  Louis'  character. 
Intrigues  of  Madame  de  Prie.  Interview  between  Monsieur  le 
Due  and  the  King.  Departure  of  Flcury.  Marshal  de  Viilars' 
advice  to  the  Queen.  Public  complaints  against  the  Ministry. 
Dismissal  of  the  Due  de  Bourbon.  The  King's  dissimulation. 
The  Due  exiled  to  Chantilly.  The  madness  of  "  Orestes." 
Illness  of  the  King  and  Queen.     Coldness  of  Louis.     Cardinal 

de  Fleury. 

ON  the  day  after  the  wedding,  to  the  great  joy  of  the 
Queen,  her  parents  arrived  to  take  up  their  residenee, 
-  not  indeed  at  Saint-Germain,  but  at  the  Chateau  de 
Chambord.  Stanislas  spent  three  days  with  his  daughter  "  in 
raptures,"  then  some  weeks  at  Bourron  until  his  new  residence 
should  be  furnished. 

Louis  and  Marie  spent  the  whole  autumn  at  Fontaine  bleau. 
Their  perfect  harmony  promised  well  for  the  future.  The 
The  King    was   transformed  ;     he    was    high-spirited. 

Honeymoon.  a  pleasant  companion  and  lover.  The  Queen 
found  her  husband  comparing  her  to  Blanche  of  Castille. 
When  anyone  wished  him  to  admire  a  lady  of  the  Court, 
Louis  replied  :  "  The  Queen  is  still  more  beautiful !  "  But  these 
were  merely  the  illusions  and  the  words  of  a  young  husband  ; 
the  King's  enthusiasm  was  only  an  instinctive  recognition 
that  he  owed  to  Marie  an  existence  to  which  he  had  hitherto 
been  a  stranger,  and  the  first  emotions  of  a  new  life. 
Louis'  heart  and  mind  were  incapable  of  other  and  nobler 
sentiments.  It  has  often  been  said  of  Stanislas'  daughter  that 
she  did  not  know  how  to  make  use  of  her  opportunities,  and 
that  at  her  age  she  might  have  gained  a  complete  influence  over 
the  as  yet  unformed  character  of  the  young  King.  But  she 
76 


A    PALACE    REVOLUTION 

believed  she  was  doing  what  was  right  in  submitting  to  the  Due 
de  Bourbon,  as  if  to  the  King  himself.  This  attitude,  which  re- 
commended itself  to  the  ingenuousness  of  the  young  wife,  was  the 
most  fatal  she  could  have  adopted.  Unfortunately,  the  percep- 
tions of  Stanislas  were  no  clearer  ;  he  thought  that  Monsieur 
le  Due's  cajoleries  were  sincere,  and  had  no  suspicion  of  the 
intrigues  of  which  his  daughter  was  to  be  the  plaything.  As 
for  Louis,  would  he  ever  have  submitted  to  the  influence  of  any 
queen  ?  He  was  inconstant  by  nature,  and  his  chief  object  was 
to  escape  the  ennui  which  was  already  beginning  to  poison  his 
most  brilliant  days.  "  Sire,"  said  Marshal  de  Villars  to  him  in 
1735,  "to  see  a  King  of  France  listless  and  bored  at  twenty-five 
is  unconscionable.  .  .  .  Besides,  your  affairs  are  in  so  good 
a  condition,  that  it  will  never  be  a  trouble  for  your  Majesty  to 
Character  of  attend  to  them.  ..."  Words  such  as  these 
Louis  XV.  had     little     effect    on    Louis.       His    lamentable  \ 

education  had  given  him  neither  the  taste  for  serious  matters, 
nor  application,  nor  the  energy  which  had  made  a  great 
King  of  Louis  XIV.  All  his  life  he  was  idle,  a  great  hunter,  and 
an  equally  great  gambler.  He  made  it  his  habit  never  to 
interfere,  and,  according  to  Dufort  de  Cheverny,  he  spoke 
of  affairs  of  State  as  though  some  one  else  were  at  the  head 
of  the  kingdom.  He  displayed  the  same  carelessness  in  his 
private  life,  much  to  the  Queen's  distress.  In  reality  it  was 
essential  for  him  to  be  in  bondage  to  some  one,  and  owing  to  her 
timidity  and  to  bad  advice,  the  dominion  was  not  to  be  Marie's,  | 
but  that  of  a  politician.  Fleury,  the  King's  tutor,  in  seeming  J 
simplicity  and  modesty,  awaited  the  time  when  he  would  be  able 
to  profit  by  the  remarkable  ascendency  he  had  gained  over  his 
pupil.  Marie  made  the  unconscious  blunder  of  attacking  the 
one  person  whom  she  should  have  propitiated  ;  she  did  not 
realize  his  unostentatious  but  immense  influence,  and  so,  act- 
ing at  the  instigation  of  the  Prime  Minister  and  Madame  de 
Prie,  she  displeased  Fleury.  Madame  de  Prie  continually  inter- 
fered ;  she  took  complete  possession  of  the  Queen,  allowing  her 
neither  to  speak  nor  write  to  whom  she  would,  and  abused  her 
position  as  lady-in-waiting  to  enter  the  royal  apartments  at  all 
times. 

When  the  Court  returned  to  Versailles,  there  were  prepara- 

77 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

tions  on  loot  for  a  revolution  in  the  Palace  which  was  to  com- 
promise Marie  and  bring  the  first  clouds,  never  again  to  be 
dispersed. 

It  will  be  remembered  thatjilenri  de  Bourbon  was  never 
allowed  to  see  Louis  alone  ;  the  Bishop  of  Frcjus  even  made  it 
his  custom  on  all  occasions  to  enter  the  King's  cabinet  half  an 
hour  before  the  Prime  Minister.  There  he  did  what  was  called 
his  work,  which  consisted  in  the  distribution  of  favours,  both 
great  and  small,  such  as  commands  in  war  and  the  like,  while 
Monsieur  le  Due  could  dispose  of  no  favours,  and  saw  them  all 
go  to  creatures  of  Fleury. 

The  baffled  minister  sought  to  rid  himself  of  this  constraint. 
He  made  overtures  to  the  Queen,  who  at  first  resisted,  but  after- 
wards gave  way  on  being  informed  that  it  was  a  question  of 
State  secrets.  He  thought  he  had  found  an  accomplice.  One 
Interview  evening  tlic  Queen  contrived  an  interview  between 

between  the  King  and  the  Due  de  Bourbon  in  her  presence ; 

the  King  the   Due    aired    his    complaints    against    Fleury, 

and  the  Due       criticizing   both   his   character  and   his   conduct, 
e    our  on.       rj^j^^  King  was  annoyed,  although  he  said  nothing, 
but  at  last  his  anger  broke  out. 

"  Have  I  displeased  your  Majesty  ? "  asked  the  Duke 
naively. 

"  Yes." 

"  Your  Majesty  no  longer  has  a  kindly  feeling  towards 
me?" 

"  No." 

"  M.  de  Frejus  alone  has  your  Majesty's  confidence  ?  " 

"  Yes." 

Thereupon  the  minister  fell  on  his  knees  and  burst  into  tears. 
The  Queen  also  wept,  and  Louis  immediately  retired  to  his  ajjart- 
mcnt  in  extreme  displeasure.  Fleury  went  to  see  his  master 
and  found  the  apartments  closed  by  order  of  Monsieur  le  Due. 
On  the  next  day  he  left  the  Court  and  retired  to  the  Convent 
of  the  Sulpiciens  at  Issy.  The  following  day  he  came  back  on 
receiving  a  letter  from  the  Due  himself  soliciting  his  return  to 
Versailles.  The  IVime  Minister  was  charged  with  the  perform- 
ance of  this  humiliating  task  by  the  King,  on  the  advice  of 
Monsieur  de  Mortemart,  First  Gentleman  of  the  Bedchamber. 
78 


A    PALACE    REVOLUTION 

The  Due  was  doomed,  and  Fleury  only  waited  his  time  to 
get  rid  of  him.  The  Queen  herself  was  not  long  in  seeing  how 
great  a  mistake  she  had  made.  She  tearfully  complained  to 
the  Marshal  de  Villars  of  the  change  she  saw  in  her  husband's 
affection,  attributing  that  change  to  the  influence  and  jealousy 
of  the  Bishop.  The  Marshal  consoled  her  to  the  best  of  his 
ability  and  made  some  remarks  which  are  useful  as  revealing 
the  psychology  of  these  incidents  :  "I  believe,  Madame,  that 
the  King's  heart  is  far  removed  from  what  is  called  love.  He 
has  not  the  feelings  towards  you  that  he  had  ;  but  do  not  show 
any  signs  of  resentment.  He  must  not  perceive  that  you  fear 
the  weakening  of  his  affections,  lest  the  many  fair  eyes  which 
continually  ogle  him  make  a  desperate  attempt  to  profit  by  the 
change."  The  advice  might  have  been  couched  in  better 
language,  but  the  sense  could  not  have  been  improved  upon. 
The  Queen  did  not  yet  understand,  however,  and  a  few  weeks 
later  in  conversation  with  Fleury,  she  again  defended  those  who 
had  been  the  cause  of  her  trouble. 

"  What  is  your  complaint  against  them  ?  "  said  Marie,  "  that 
you  insist  so  strongly  on  their  removal  ?  " 

"  I  have  no  personal  feeling  against  them,"  replied  Fleury, 
"  and  if  I  oppose  Monsieur  le  Due,  it  is  because  of  the  harm 
tht  Madame  de  Prie  and  Paris-Duverney  do  to  the  King." 

"  But  how  can  I  decide  to  send  away  these  people,  one  of 
whom,  my  private  secretary,  asks  for  judgment  as  to  the  accusa- 
tions against  him,  the  other,  that  strict  inquiry  should  be  made 
into  the  wrongs  attributed  to  her.  I  assure  you  that  the  dis- 
grace of  these  people,  who  satisfy  me,  will  cause  me  distress." 

Marie  went  on  to  speak  of  the  coldness  of  Louis,  to  which  the 
Bishop  drily  replied  :  "  It  is  not  my  fault." 

Meanwhile,  the  complaints  against  Henri  de  Bourbon 
began  to  take  definite  shape.  The  town  came  to  the  help 
Dissatisfaction  of  the  Bishop.  Public  opinion  played  Fleury's 
o£  the  People,  game  and  brought  matters  to  a  head.  The 
Bishop  remained  behind  the  scenes,  keeping  an  outward 
appearance  of  friendliness.  His  proverbial  patience  was 
destined  to  assure  his  victory,  and  his  long  desired  succession 
to  the  position  of  prime  minister,  without  the  name,  indeed, 
but  with  all  the  power. 

79 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

Reforms  were  demanded,  but  never  came.  The  people 
desired  the  abolition  of  heavy  taxes  representing  an  annual 
ineome  to  the  King  of  a  hundred  and  eighty  million  francs,  and 
the  reorganization  of  the  administration  on  more  equitable 
lines.  There  was  need  for  a  better  distribution  of  the  revenues 
from  the  monopolies — for  instance,  the  tobacco  monopoly 
that  had  been  given  over  to  the  Compagnie  des  Indes — and 
for  new  sources  fo  taxation  less  onerous  to  the  exhausted 
and  impoverished  nation.  The  King  was  silent,  following,  no 
doubt,  the  advice  of  the  Bishop  of  Frejus.  He  was  affable  to 
Monsieur  le  Due,  and  seemed  to  have  pardoned  his  errors.  At 
three  o'clock  on  June  11,  1726,  he  left  for  Rambouillet  with  the 
intention  of  hunting  with  the  Comte  de  Toulouse,  which  he  was 
fond  of  doing.     Before  he  left  he  said  to  the  Due  de  Bourbon  : 

"  Do  not  make  me  wait  for  supper." 

Some  hours  later  the  Due  de  Charost,  who  had  been  let  into 
the  secret  the  day  before,  asked  to  speak  to  Monsieur  le  Due, 
Dismissal  of  ^^id  handed  him  a  severely  worded  Icttre  de 
the  Due  cachet :  "  I  command  you,  on  pain  of  punishment 

de  Boiirbon.  for  disobedience,  to  retire  to  Chantilly,  and  remain 
there  until  further  orders.     Louis." 

The  Duke  obeyed  immediately,  though  complaining  of  the 
harsh  manner  in  which  he  had  been  treated. 

The  King's  dissimulation  was  severely  criticized ;  it  was 
said  to  be  unlike  the  conduct  of  anyone  of  his  age,  and  to 
show  "  a  mind  at  once  feeble  and  petty  "  ;  the  influence  of  Fleury 
was  also  plainly  discernible.  However,  Louis  never  showed 
frankness  and  courage  in  similar  circumstances.  His  defenders 
explain  his  invariable  line  of  conduct  by  his  timidity. 

The  triumph  of  the  Bishop  of  Frejus  was  assured.  The  Queen 
also  had  her  lettre  de  cachet,  brought  to  her  by  Fleury  himself : 
"  Madame,"  said  the  King,  "  do  not  be  surprised  at  the  orders 
I  have  given.  Pay  attention  to  what  Monsieur  de  Frejus  will 
tell  you  on  my  behalf,  I  pray  you  and  I  command  you."  After 
this,  a  correspondence  was  established  between  the  Bishop  and 
the  Queen*^  but  though  they  have  an  appearance  of  affectionate 
confidence,  these  letters  prove  that  Marie  was  deluded,  and  that 
she  did  not  find  an  echo  in  him  through  whom  she  hoped  to  keep 
the  heart  of  the  King.  Fleury  deceived  Stanislas  also  later  on. 
80 


A    PALACE    REVOLUTION 

Reading  the  exile's  letters  one  might  think  that  the  Bishop  was 
really  interested  in  his  fate. 

The  ministers  of  State,  Morville  and  Maurepas,  received 
similar  orders.  To  celebrate  his  victory,  Fleury  confined  Paris- 
Duverney  in  the  Bastille,  sent  away  his  three  brothers,  and 
exiled  Madame  de  Prie  to  her  castle  of  Courbepine  in  Normandy, 
where  she  died  a  year  later.  He  accepted  the  resignation  of 
Dodun,  Marquis  d'Herbault,  the  Controller-General,  who  was 
succeeded  by  Desforts,  and  of  Breteuil,  whose  successor  was 
Le  Blanc,  returned  to  favour.  An  order  was  at  once  drawn  up 
to  revoke  the  Cinquantieme  tax,  and  everyone  smiled  on  Monsieur 
le  Due's  enemies.  The  joy  was  extreme.  The  lieutenant  of  police 
had  to  take  the  most  rigorous  precautions  to  prevent  the  people 
of  Paris  from  illuminating  the  town  on  the  day  of  the  departure 
for  Chantilly. 

Henri  de  Bourbon  distracted  himself  by  hunting  "  in  the 
world's  fairest  residence,"  but  he  was  "  troubled  by  the  natural 
constraint  felt  by  all  who  cannot  go  away,  at  any  rate  for  any 
distance."  His  mother  paid  him  many  visits,  less  to  console 
him  than  to  reproach  him  continually  for  not  having  married 
Mademoiselle  de  Sens  to  the  King.  Louis  was  ill  in  July  : 
Madame  la  Duchesse  took  occasion  to  ask  that  her  son  might 
come  to  hear  the  bulletins.  To  her  importunities  the  King 
replied  that  he  did  not  wish  to  be  troubled. 

"  But,  Sire,  you  overwhelm  me  with  the  keenest  grief ! 
Would  you  drive  my  son  and  myself  to  despair  ?  Allow  him 
the  consolation  of  seeing  you,  if  it  is  only  for  a  moment." 

"  No  !  "  said  the  King,  and  he  turned  away  to  put  an  end  to 
the  monologue. 

The  Due  de  Bourbon  was  restored  to  favour  in  1727,  on 
his  second  marriage  with  Charlotte  of  Hesse-Rheinfels.  He 
died  in  1740,  leaving  no  record  in  history  beyond  that  of  his 
deplorable  administration. 

A  celebrated  passage  in  Andromaque  was  parodied,  in  which 
he  was  made  to  say  : 

Si  j'ai  reduit  la  France  aux  pleurs,  a  la  misere  ; 
Si  j'ai  frappe  Le  Blanc  d'une  injuste  colere, 
C'est  que  je  voulais  etre  un  tyran  accompli : 
He  bien,  je  suis  content  et  mon  sort  est  rempli  .  .  . 

E  81 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

Mais  quelle  dpaisse  nuit  tout  h  coup  m'cnvironnc  ? 
De  Prie.  ou  etcs  vous  ?     D'ou  vicnt  que  jc  frissoniic  ? 
Quelle  horreur  me  saisit  ?   grace  au  ciel  j'cntrcvoi  .  .  . 
Dicu  !  ce  sont  Ics  Paris  pcrdus  autour  de  moi  .  .  . 
Viens,  ma  chere  de  Pric,  ii  toi  je  nrabandonne  .  .  . 
Je  te  reserve  encor  mon  cceur  {\  dcchircr, 
Apres  t'avoir  donne  I'Etat  a  devorer.* 

The  King's  illness  which  had  served  as  a  pretext  for  Madame 
la  Duchcsse  to  come  to  Versailles,  was  only  indigestion.  He 
Illness  of  ^i^d  had  "too  many  figs  and  walnuts  and  too 

the  King  and  much  milk  and  other  things/'  besides  being  over- 
Queen,  fatigued  by  hunting.  The  alarm  was,  however, 
great,  and  upset  the  Queen  to  such  an  extent  that  she  fell  into 
a  fever.  But  according  to  a  letter  from  Stanislas,  there  was 
yet  another  cause  for  this  illness  :  "  You  have  heard  of  the 
indisposition  of  the  King  and  Queen.  God  be  thanked  it  is  over. 
.  .  .  Their  sympathetic  feelings  extend  even  to  the  cause  of 
their  maladies,  which  is  over-eating.  They  both  had  violent 
indigestion,  and  the  Queen  especially,  after  eating  a  hundred 
and  eighty  oysters,  and  drinking  four  glasses  of  beer.  .  .  . 
As  you  will  realize,  there  is  a  charming  touch  in  the  assistance 
they  have  lent  one  another  during  their  indisposition.  You 
will  be  equally  glad  when  I  tell  you  that  their  confidence  and 
their  tenderness  have  been  strengthened.  .  .  ." 

Stanislas  was  always  an  optimist,  and  he  was  far  from  un- 
derstanding that  this  confidence  and  this  tenderness  did  not 
exist.  After  the  first  four  days,  in  which  the  small-pox  was 
feared,  Louis  went  often  to  see  the  Queen,  but  his  visits  were 
only  for  a  few  minutes,  and  Villars  remarked  that  "  the  tender- 
ness did  not  seem  very  great  "  on  the  King's  side.  When  Marie 
recovered,  Louis  spent  three-quarters  of  an  hour  with  his  wife, 
accompanied  by  the  Bishop  of  Frejus.  This  mark  of  affection 
did  something  to  repair  the  pain  caused  by  his  coldness,  even 

♦  If  I  have  reduced  France  to  tears  and  misery,  if  in  my  unjust  anger 
I  struck  down  Le  Blanc,  it  is  because  I  wislicd  to  be  a  complete  tyrant  ; 
ah  !  well  !  I  am  content,  I  have  fullillcd  my  destiny.  But  what  is  this 
dark  night  which  now  envelops  me  ?  De  Pric,  where  arc  you?  ^^'hy  do 
I  shiver  ?  What  horror  seizes  me  ?  Thanks  to  heaven  I  have  a  glimpse 
of  .  .  God  !  It  is  Paris  and  the  rest  ruined  all  round  me.  .  .  .  Come, 
my  dear  de  Prie,  I  abandon  myself  to  you.  ...  I  have  kept  my  heart 
for  you  to  rend  after  having  given  you  the  State  to  devour. 
82 


A    PALACE    REVOLUTION 

though  the  presence  of  Fleury  gave  it  an  official  air.  The  King 
left  for  Fontainebleau  without  bidding  the  Queen  good-bye  ; 
it  was  announced  that  he  would  return  every  Saturday  until 
Marie  was  well  enough  to  rejoin  him,  but  he  did  not  in  fact  do 
so. '  This  was  not  all,  for  when  the  Queen  arrived  at  Fontaine- 
bleau at  the  end  of  the  month,  the  huntsman  in  Louis  was 
stronger  than  the  husband,  and  instead  of  going  to  greet  his  wife, 
he  went  after  his  hounds.  I  The  Queen  could  retain  no  illusion  as 
to  his  feelings,  but  her  own  love  was  constant.  The  courtiers 
whispered  ;  for  they  saw  that  the  young  King  was  indifferent 
and  selfish. 

Thus  it  was  that  Stanislas'  daughter  lost  all  at  the  fall  of 
Monsieur  le  Due  ;  the  revolution  in  the  Palace  had  turned 
Honours  for  against  its  author  and  his  innocent  accomplice. 
Fleury.  Henri  de  Bourbon   had   arranged  the  marriage 

in  the  belief  that  he  could  use  it  to  the  profit  of  himself  and 
Madame  de  Prie  ;  his  only  achievement  was  to  ensure  the 
Queen's  unhappiness,  and  her  isolation  between  a  husband 
who  was  indifferent,  and  a  minister  who  was  absolute  master 
of  the  King  and  the  destinies  of  France,  and  little  troubled 
by  the  moral  tortures  under  which  her  heart  bled.  Having 
thus  become  head  of  the  Government,  Fleury  received  from  the 
Pope  the  highest  honour  bestowed  on  prelates ;  Cardinal 
Gualteri's  nephew  brought  him  the  Cardinal's  hat  from  Rome 
on  November  5,  1726.  Henceforth  he  had  precedence  of  the 
Dukes  in  the  council,  and  he  was  "  cousin  "  to  all  Christian 
kings  and  princes. 

Principal  Sources.  The  same  as  in  the  last  chapter  with  the  addi- 
tion of  the  Mdmoires  de  J.  N.  Dufort,  Comte  de  Cheverny,  2  vols.,  Paris, 
1886. 


83 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE  QUEEN'S  DOWRY 
1727-1737 

The  Cardinal's  associates.  His  unostentatious  life.  Reeoneilia- 
lion  with  Spain.  The  Treaty  of  Seville.  Don  Carlos,  Duke  of 
Parma.  Death  of  Augustus  II,  Elector  of  Saxony  and  Kinj;  of 
Poland.  The  candidates  for  the  throne  of  the  Jagellons.  English 
influence.  Stanislas,  the  protege  of  F'rance.  Departure  of 
Leszezynski  for  Poland.  His  election.  Counter-election  of 
Augustus  III.  The  "Forsaken"  of  Danzig.  Intervention  of 
the  Comte  dc  Plelo.  Operations  on  the  Rhine  and  in  Italy. 
Ridiculously  inadequate  support  sent  by  Fleury  to  Stanislas. 
Death  of  Plelo.  Stanislas  in  Prussia.  French  victories.  Don 
Carlos,  King  of  the  Two  Sicilies.  Stanislas  becomes  Duke  of 
Lorraine.    The  Cascade  of  Marly. 

CARDINAL  DE  FLEURY'S  only  desire  was  to  govern 
in  peace,  to  effeet  stringent  economies,  and  to  avoid 
war.  On  his  advent  to  power  he  was  seventy-two 
years  old  ;  but  in  spite  of  his  age  he  was  in  excellent  health, 
The  Cardinal  ^^^^^^  there  was  some  analogy  between  his  methods 
and  his  of  treating  his  oavti  constitution  and  tliat  of  the 

Collaborators.  State.  Voltaire  was  justified  in  saying  that 
Fleury  considered  France  a  strong  and  robust  body  which 
would  recover  of  its  own  accord. 

The  Bishop  surrounded  himself  with  associates,  but  he  chose 
men  who  would  ])lace  his  own  capacity  in  relief  and  strengthen 
his  position.  The  best  known  was  Chauvclin,  who,  in  sj)ite  of 
public  opposition,  was  entrusted  with  two  important  posts  in 
four  days,  without  having  given  any  proof  of  his  ability.  He 
became  Keeper  of  the  Seals  in  1727,  and  inunediately  undertook 
the  functions  of  Secretary  of  State  and  Minister  for  Foreign 
Affairs,  in  the  place  of  Morville,  who  decided  to  retire  at  the 
same  time  as  his  father,  M.  d'.Vrmenonville,  Chauvclin 's  pre- 
decessor. 
84 


THE    QUEEN'S    DOWRY 

Fleury  was  perfectly  honest  and  never  abused  his  high 
position.  He  had  not  the  ostentation  of  a  RichcHeu,  though  it 
The  simplicity  is  certain  that  he  had  not  his  talents  either  ;  but 
of  his  life.  after  the  rule  of  Dubois,  it  is  only  fair  to  call 

attention  to  the  integrity  of  the  Cardinal,  if  but  for  its  novelty. 
The  Court  and  Paris  did  hot  treat  him  with  respect,  so  extra- 
ordinary did  this  spirit  of  economy  seem.     They  mocked  at  his 
simple  life  ;    the  Marquis  d'Argenson  ridiculed  it :    "  One  of 
the  most  absurd  spectacles  is  the  prelate's  petit-coucher.     All 
France,  from  the  usual  idlers  to  those  who  have  business,  is  at 
his  door.     His  Eminence  enters  and  passes  into  his  cabinet, 
then  the  doors  are  opened  and  you  see  the  old  priest  take  off 
his  small-clothes  and  carefully  fold  them  ;    an  unostentatious 
dressing-gown  is  handed   him,  and   then   his    shift ;    he  takes 
a  long  time    combing  his  four  white  hairs,  discourses,  chats, 
babbles,  makes  bad  jokes  interspersed  with  bland  or  common- 
place remarks.    The  good  man  imagines  that  this  is  a  consolation 
for  the  poor  folk  who  press  to  see  him  ;  he  cannot  give  them  a 
more  propitious  moment,  without  interfering  with  business." 

Fault  was  also  found  with  the  niggardly  fare  of  the  Cardinal. 
He  was  compelled  to  keep  open  table,  but  he  only  had  "  four 
enormous  entrees,  a  dish  of  roast  and  four  entremets. ^^  Such 
was  his  custom  and  he  would  not  change  it.  When  the  guests 
were  too  numerous,  the  dishes  were  passed  round  without  the 
least  ceremony.  On  one  occasion  the  Bishop  of  Rennes 
(Vaureal),  not  finding  enough  to  eat,  said  to  his  host  : 

"  Ma  foi,  Monseigneur,  however  much  you  try  your  estate 
will  not  equal  that  of  Cardinal  Mazarin." 

The  minister  laughed,  he  considered  probity  and  economy 
the  first  of  virtues  ;  a  typical  phrase  he  used  when  he  had  occa- 
sion to  defend  his  finance  was  :  "  Silver  and  gold  do  not  drop 
like  leaves  from  the  trees." 

One  of  Fleury's  first  objects  was  to  reconcile  France  and 
Spain.  Ever  since  the  return  of  the  Infanta,  Philip  and 
Reconciliation  Elizabeth  had  sulked ;  they  even  formed  an 
with  Spain.  alliance  with  the  Emperor,  Charles  VI,  though  as 
Archduke  he  had  claimed  to  succeed  Charles  II,  and  had 
conducted  the  war  in  Catalonia  against  the  combined  Franco- 
Spanish  armies. 

85 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

In  1724  a  Conrirrcss  luui  bctn  opened  at  Canibrai,  at  which 
the  plenipotentiaries  of  the  States  who  formed  the  Quadruple 
Alliance  attended,  their  object  being  to  settle  the  complicated 
interests  of  Spain.  But  while  Mariannita  was  on  the  way  back 
to  Madrid,  Philip  recalled  his  representatives.  After  the  disso- 
lution of  the  Congress  he  gave  secret  instructions  to  Ripperda, 
his  minister  at  Vienna,  to  continue  negotiations.  As  a  result 
four  treaties  were  signed  on  April  30  and  May  1,  1725,  three  of 
them  with  the  Emperor  and  one  with  the  Empire. 

The  Germans  agreed  to  recognize  the  hereditary  rights  of 
the  Infante  Don  Carlos  to  the  Duchies  of  Parma,  Placentia, 
Don  Carlos  and  Tuscany,  in  return  for  the  renunciation  by 
Duke  of  Parma,  the  King  of  Spain  of  his  claims  to  Naples  and  the 
Two  Sicilies.  This  settlement  satisfied  Elizabeth  Farncse, 
whose  whole  skill  was  concentrated  on  dynastic  claims  in 
favour  of  her  sons,  a  business  in  which  she  displayed  the 
asperity  and  ill-humour  of  a  virago,  threatening  and  insulting 
the  French  ambassadors  as  if  they  had  been  servants. 

The  remaining  treaties  confirmed  the  Quadruple  Alliance, 
guaranteed  the  Spanish  succession  as  established  at  Utrecht, 
recognized  the  Imperial  Pragmatic  Sanction,  that  is  to  say, 
acknowledged  the  right  of  the  Emperor's  only  daughter  to 
inherit  the  possessions  and  powers  of  her  father ;  assured 
for  Philip  the  good  offices  of  Charles  VI  ,with  the  King  of  England 
to  secure  the  restoration  of  Gibraltar  and  Minorca  ;  regulated 
the  commerce  between  the  two  countries,  according  protection 
to  the  Ostend  Company  and  so  olTendingthe  English  and  Dutch  ; 
finally,  in  case  of  war,  provided  for  mutual  suj)port  between 
the  contracting  parties.  The  hereditary  enmity  between 
Hapsburg  and  Bourbon  was  forgotten.  ' 

So  strange  a  poUtical  situation  caused  consternation  in 
Europe.  On  September  23,  1725,  a  rejjly  was  made  by  the 
\  Treaty  of  Hanover  between  France,  England  and  Prussia,  to  i 
which  Sweden  and  Denmark,  and  later  on  Holland,  adhered. 
They  were  pledged  to  the  maintenance  of  the  Treaty  of  Utrecht. 
But  Prussia  soon  detached  herself  from  this  league  against 
Vienna,  and  in  company  with  Bussia  ranged  herself  on  the 
side  of  the  Emperor.  The  Powers  who  were  ultimately  to  share 
Poland  were  preparing  for  the  future.  During  the  whole  of 
86 


THE    QUEEN'S    DOWRY 

the  eighteenth  century  their  policy  was  directed  towards  the 
dismemberment  of  the  northern  repubhc. 

Such  was  the  position  at  the  disgrace  of  Monsieur  le  Due.  The 
Cardinal  saw  that  it  was  necessary  to  bring  Phihp  V  to  a  better 
frame  of  mind.  It  was  easy  for  him  to  disown  all  responsibility 
for  the  Infanta's  return,  and  having  done  this,  he  had  recourse 
to  Father  Bermudez,  the  Spanish  King's  confessor.  He  wrote 
a  letter  on  September  1,  1726,  in  which  he  insinuated  that  his 
Cathohc  Majesty  had  renounced  his  family  and  his  fatherland, 
and  was  indifferent  to  all  that  was  happening  in  the  French 
Court  ;  in  his  postscript  he  put  aside  all  pretence  and  said  : 
"  It  is  true  that  we  have  formed  alliances  which  are  suspected 
by  the  Cathohc  King,  but  our  allies  are  not  our  masters,  and 
God  grant  that  it  is  the  same  with  those  of  Spain.  I  trust  that 
you  will  forgive  me  for  saying  this." 

A  year  later  a  reconciliation  was  with  some  difficulty  efTected; 
it  was  brought  about  by  the  fall  of  Ripperda,  the  daring  originator 
Treaty  of  of  the  treaties  of  Vienna,  by  the  Spanish  reverse 

Paris,  1727.  before  Gibraltar,  and  by  Philip's  precarious  state 
of  health.  These  causes  were  quite  as  effective  as  Fleury's 
skill.  On  May  31,  1727,  the  Treaty  of  Paris  was  signed.  By  ^- 
this  the  Emperor  agreed  to  suspend  the  concessions  given  to 
the  Ostend  Company  for  seven  years,  and  to  summon  a  fresh 
congress  with  a  view  to  a  general  peace.  Alarmist  reports 
ceased,  and  the  plenipotentiaries,  meeting  at  Soissons,  sealed 
the  compact  between  the  two  Bourbon  branches  as  a  pre- 
liminary to  the  Treaty  of  Seville.  The  latter  was  signed  on 
November  9,  1729,  and  for  the  moment  reconciled  Spain  with 
the  members  of  the  Hanoverian  alliance.  By  this  treaty 
Spain  was  authorized  to  station  six  thousand  troops  in  Parma 
and  Tuscany  to  support  the  rights  of  the  Infante  Don  Carlos 
over  the  Italian  Duchies.  The  last  Farnese  died  on  March  10, 
1731,  without  issue,  whereupon  the  son  of  Elizabeth  became 
Duke  of  Parma,  and  heir-presumptive  of  the  Grand  Duke  of 
Tuscany.  Calm  reigned  in  Europe  until  1733.  But  on 
February  1  of  that  year  an  event  happened  which  created  fresh 
compHcations  :  Augustus  II,  Elector  of  Saxony  and  King 
of  Poland,  died  of  a  swelling  in  the  thigh  caused  by  blood 
poisoning. 

87 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

His  death  left  Ihc  succession  to  tlie  throne  vacant.  The  new 
king  had  to  be  elected  by  the  PoUsh  nobiUty  assembled  in  the 
Death  of  Diet.     Among  the   candidates  were  the   son   of 

Augustus  II  tlie  late  King,  who  was  favoured  by  Austria 
of  Poland.  and  Russia,  the  young  Emmanuel  of  Portugal, 

the  Prussian  candidate,  and  the  Queen's  father,  Stanislas 
Leszczynski,  who  was  supjiortcd  by  France,  but  without  much 
enthusiasm  on  the  part  of  Fleury.  However,  the  conclusion 
of  this  struggle  was  to  be  fortunate  for  France,  and  after  five 
years  of  war  and  negotiations  to  give  her  a  new  province. 

The  Cardinal  was  able  to  compliment  himself  on  having 
brought  a  difficult  task  to  a  satisfactory  conclusion,  but  the 
reconciliation  with  Spain  was  not  particularly  successful! 
Fleury  had  too  blind  a  confidence  in  the  English  minister, 
Walpole,  his  great  friend,  who  was  paralyzing  the  commerce 
and  sea-power  of  France. 

He  was  apprehensive  lest  the  elevation  of  Stanislas  should 
give  Marie  a  certain  amount  of  influence  and  diminish  his 
English  ministerial  power  ;    while  if  France  were  to  land 

Influence.  in  Poland  from  the  sea,  and  thus  give  the  Queen's 

father  effective  assistance,  he  was  afraid  of  what  Great  Britain 
might  say  in  her  jealousy  for  her  maritime  supremacy.^-— Fleury 
secretly  took  the  advice — one  might  almost  say  the  orders — 
of  Walpole.  Thus  he  was  not  only  acting  against  the  Polish 
friends  of  Leszczynski,  but  also  offending  the  many  Frenchmen 
who  saw  in  the  cause  of  Stanislas  an  object  worthy  of  the 
chivalrous  traditions  of  the  nation. 

Louis  himself  intervened  at  the  commencement.  Having 
no  suspicion  of  the  purposes  of  his  late  tutor  he  did  his  duty 
without  reservation.  The  French  Ambassador  at  Warsaw  was 
the  Marquis  de  Monti,  who  had  no  need  of  moral  encouragement 
as  he  had  already  made  Stanislas'  cause  his  own.  The  diplo- 
matist was  delighted  to  receive  the  promise  of  a  milUon  florins 
to  capture  the  electors  who  had  been  depraved  by  the  election 
camj)aign  of  Augustus  U,  when  money  liad  been  flung  about  in 
handfuls.  Monti  was  authorized  to  distribute  Cardinals'  hats^,, 
offices,  blue  and  red  ribands,  golden  jewels,  glittering  but  in- 
expensive watches,  caskets,  flagons  and  patch  boxes,  to  the  most 
loyal  of  the  Polish  nobles.  Thus  far  the  Cardinal  approved. 
88 


THE    QUEEN'S    DOWRY 

Louis  realized  that  his  father-in-law  ought  to  go  to  Poland 
to  conduct  his  electoral  battle.  "His  stay  at  Chambord,"  he 
wrote  to  Monti,  "  although  possibly  advisable  for  the  moment, 
yet  allows  discreditable  doubts  to  arise  as  to  the  sincerity  of  the 
measures  I  am  taking  for  his  restoration.  ...  I  am  aware  of 
the  force  of  your  arguments  in  requesting  the  presence  of  King 
Stanislas.  He  will  leave  how  and  when  you  suggest.  Every- 
thing will  be  ready  for  his  departure  at  a  moment's  notice. 
Until  then  he  will  await  your  final  instructions." 

Stanislas  set  out,  and  monetary  support  flowed  in.  Fleury 
gave  him  upwards  of  three  million  francs,  hoping  that  this 
sacrifice  would  keep  off  war  ;  for  his  desire  for  peace  outweighed 
his  care  for  the  coffers  of  the  State. 

The  affair  which  was  to  end  in  tragedy  began  with  comedy. 
Leszczynski,  attired  in  garment  of  pinchina,  a  coarse  woollen 
material,  and  wearing  a  black  perruque,  left  Meudon  on  August 
22,  1733.  He  reached  the  frontier  in  the  utmost  secrecy  and 
entered  Germany,  accompanied  by  the  young  d'Andlau,  son  of 
his  friend  the  Lieutenant  of  Alsace.  One  passed  as  a  clerk,  the 
other  as  a  merchant  ;  their  passports  were  made  out  in  the  names 
of  George  Bawer  and  Ernest  Bramback.  The  two  travellers 
arrived  at  Warsaw  on  September  8. 

Meanwhile,  a  squadron  sailed  from  Brest  towards  the  Baltic 
Sea,  carrying  a  French  noble,  the  Comte  de  Thianges,  who 
vaguely  resembled  Stanislas.  He  was  dressed  in  gala  costume 
and  wore  the  cordon  of  the  Holy  Ghost  in  order  to  make  his 
appearance  the  more  authentic  :  this  stratagem  was  suggested 
to  Fleury  by  Walpole. 

Received  with  enthusiasm,  Leszczynski  was  elected  King 
on  September  12  amid  the  acclamations  of  the  electors  on  the 
Stanislas  ^^^^  ^^  Wola,   near  Warsaw.     His  success   was 

elected  King      remarkable    and    induced    Narbonne    to     say : 
of  Poland.  "Posterity  will  find  difficulty  in  believing  that 

a  prince  could  come  to  Warsaw  from  four  hundred  leagues 
away  and  be  proclaimed  King  all  in  the  course  of  a  fortnight." 
There  was  great  delight  at  Versailles  when  a  courier  named 
Barthel  arrived  post-haste  with  the  news  of  the  election  after 
having  covered  four  hundred  and  twenty  leagues  in  eight 
days.  He  reached  Versailles  between  eleven  o'clock  and  mid- 
89 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

nis?ht.  The  Keeper  of  the  Seals  was  still  at  dinner,  but  the 
Cardinal  was  resting,  and  the  King  had  already  retired.  Wlu  n 
Louis  opened  the  paeket  and  read  the  missive,  he  threw  liiniself 
on  the  Queen's  neck  and  she  embraced  him  tenderly. 

Their  joy  was  not  destined  to  last  long.  The  son  of  Augustus 
prejiared  for  vengeance,  lie  was  assisted  by  the  Russian  army 
which  advanced  to  threaten  Warsaw  and  was  about  to  effect  a 
junction  with  the  Saxon  and  Austrian  forces,  lie  gained  some 
adherents  by  distributing  gold  and  buying  the  fickle  electors 
in  his  turn.  Faced  with  this  invasion  of  foreign  troops  and  %vith 
the  desertion  of  the  larger  part  of  his  friends,  Stanislas  fled  to 
Danzig,  then  a  free  town  under  the  protection  of  the  Polish 
Republic,  and  firmly  loyal  to  its  suzerains.  Here  he  found 
hospitality  and  valiant  defenders. 

A  new  Diet  annulled  the  former  one  and  elected  Augustus  III 
on  October  25.  History  repeated  itself  and  the  son  followed 
Counter-  ^^^^    father's    example,    dethroning    in    his    turn 

election  of  the    ephemeral    King,    the    nominee    of    French 

Augustus  III.  diplomacy,  who  was  thus  again  driven  from  his 
country  by  the  Russians. 

Stanislas  would  not  acknowledge  himself  beaten.  He  had 
faith  in  his  star  and  knew  the  bravery  and  devotion  of  those 
who  had  accompanied  him,  among  them  Monti  and  all  the  flower 
of  the  purest  Polish  nobility,  Poniatowski,  the  hero  of  the  wars 
of  Charles  XH,  the  Primate  Theodore  Potocki,  Prince  Frederick 
Michael  Czartoryski,  Duke  Ossolinski,  and  Prince  George  Sapieha. 
He  counted  also  on  the  support  of  France.  Fleury  decided  on 
war.  The  Emperor  was  to  be  attacked  on  the  Rhine  and  in 
Italy  in  conjunction  with  the  Kings  of  Sardinia  and  Spain,  but 
practically  nothing  was  done  for  him  who  was  justly  styled 
"  the  forsaken  of  Danzig." 

While  the  Russians  under  Lacy  were  pushing  their  way  to 
Warsaw,  Stanislas'  eyes  were  turned  to  the  sea.  His  hopes 
were  set  on  the  promised  French  fleet.  But  this  fleet  was 
delayed  at  Copenhagen,  and  Thiangcs  returned  to  France  having 
played  liis  ridiculous  part.  "  The  Commander  de  Thianges 
who  played  the  part  of  king  on  the  flotilla,"  wrote  Marais  to 
President  Bouhier,  "  has  arrived  in  France  and  deserted  the 
scene.  I  do  not  know  where  he  has  left  the  fleet."'!  The  French 
90 


THE    QUEEN'S    DOWRY 

Ambassador  in  Denmark,  the  Comte  de  PI6I0,  whose  name 
is  famous,  urged  La  Luzerne,  who  was  in  command  of  the 
Intervention  squadron,  to  sail  for  Danzig  ;  but  that  officer 
of  the  Comte  asserted  that  he  had  received  secret  orders  not  to 
de  PI6I0.  stay  more  than  a  night  off  the  town  and  then 

to  return  with  all  speed  ;  he  made  an  illusory  concession,  at 
the  instance  of  de  Plelo,  and  left  three  of  his  ships  in  Danish 
waters ;  the  Argonante,  the  Astree  and  the  MMuse.  The 
ambassador  followed  the  dictates  of  his  own  enthusiasm,  but 
he  had  to  make  excuses  for  having  done  his  duty  !  "I  have 
taken  it  upon  myself,"  he  wrote  to  the  King,  "to  retain  the 
vessels  here  for  some  days.  ...  I  am  apprehensive  lest  some 
may  think  it  extraordinary  that  the  squadron  has  not  by  now 
passed  Copenhagen,  and  they  may  imagine  that  if  it  had 
appeared  off  the  coast  of  Poland,  its  presence  alone  would  have 
given  great  encouragement." 

Plelo  was  severely  reprimanded.  Generous  sentiments  were 
no  longer  appreciated  at  Versailles.  The  Cardinal  contented 
himself  with  writing  dispatches,  bearing  the  stamp  of  the  Courts 
full  of  fair  words  which  led  to  nothing.  He  had  been  obliged 
to  declare  war,  and  Stanislas'  injuries  had  been  the  cause,  but 
he  maintained  an  attitude  of  servility  towards  the  maritime 
Powers,4Lnd  did  not  allow  himself  to  be  disturbed  by  the  mis- 
fortunes of  the  exiled  King.  He  was  far  from  appreciating, 
like  Marais,  "  the  impulse  of  glory  and  the  warm  ties  of  kinship." 
He  would  more  readily  have  quoted  : 

mais  que  nous  chaut  que  le  Nord  s'entrepille  ? 

Stanislas  thus  served  as  pretext  for  the  operations  of  armies 
on  a  scene  far  distant  from  Danzig.  The  French,  under  the 
command  of  Marshal  Berwick,  conquered  Kehl  on  October  28, 
and  in  Italy  entered  Milan  under  Villars  ;  this  was  the  latter's 
last  campaign ;  he  set  forth,  in  spite  of  his  eighty  years, 
like  a  true  paladin,  and  the  people  remembering  his  former 
exploits,  cheered  him  all  along  the  route.  Marie  Leszczynska 
gave  him  a  cockade,  Elizabeth  Farnese  sent  him  another  at 
Lyons,  and  the  Queen  of  Sardinia  pinned  a  third  on  him  at 
Turin.  He  was  able  to  say  :  *'  My  hat  is  decorated  by  a  bevy 
of  queens,  a  happy  opening  to  my  venture  for  the  three  crowns." 

91 


THE    EIGHTEENTH     CENTURY 

The  o]ierations  coiikl  not  be  decisive  (liirinrr  t hi-  winter,  and  the 
alhes  of  France  were  cliiefly  concerned  with  their  own  interests. 
Charles  Emmanuel  ])aid  little  attention  to  the  advice  of  Villars, 
assured  himself  of  the  Milanese  province  on  December  29,  and 
made  no  clTort  to  join  the  Spanish  armies  beyond  the  Mincio  ; 
Don  Carlos,  on  his  side,  directed  his  troops  towards  Southern 
Italy  and  marched  on  Najiles.  The  two  princes,  who  were  united 
by  treaties,  turned  their  backs  on  one  another  and  each  fought 
for  his  o^vn  hand.  Thus  the  way  was  clear  for  the  Imperial 
forces  to  fall  back  on  Mantua  and  the  passes  of  the  lower 
Tyrol. 

The  whole  conduct  of  this  campaign  was  strange,  and  it  has 
been  described  as  "  a  triumph  of  diplomatic  fictions."  The 
Emperor  was  on  the  defensive  on  tlie  Rhine  and  in  Italy,  but  in 
Belgium  he  was  neutral.  The  King  of  Prussia  did  not  interfere 
in  Poland,  and  he  forbade  the  passage  through  his  territory  of 
the  Russian  artillery  which  \vished  to  attack  Danzig  ;  mean- 
while, on  the  Rhine,  in  his  capacity  as  Prince  of  the  Holy  Roman 
Empire,  he  furnished  a  contingent  of  six  thousand  men. 
George  II,  as  King  of  England,  was  also  neutral,  but  as  Elector 
of  Hanover  he  swelled  the  Imperial  forces.  Russia,  nominally 
at  peace  with  France,  aided  Charles  VI  as  auxiliary  of  Austria. 
Voltaire  called  attention  to  the  singularity  of  the  situation, 
saying  to  the  Abbe  de  Sade  :  "  The  fort  of  Kehl  has  been  taken  ; 
the  Alicante  fleet  is  at  Sicily  ;  and  while  the  wings  of  the 
Imperial  eagle  are  being  clipped  in  Italy  and  Germany,  King 
Stanislas  is  being  more  than  ever  obstructed." 

Leszcz}Tiski  hoi)ed  that  de  Plelo's  advice  would  be  followed, 
and  that  thirty  thousand  men  would  be  detached  from  the 
Stanislas  at  army  of  the  Rhine  to  come  to  his  succour  through 
Danzig.  Saxony,  while  the  Saxon  forces  were  massed  in 

Poland  ;  but  the  Cardinal  would  not  listen  to  reason.  The 
Queen  received  discouraging  letters  from  her  father :  "  I 
assure  you,"  said  he,  "  that  unless  the  King  occupies  Saxony, 
I  shall  be  compelled  to  abandon  my  inheritance  and  seek 
again  my  old  homestead,  where  I  shall  be  your  tenant.  If, 
as  I  am  informed,  by  M.  de  La  Roche  (the  Cardinal)  and  M.  le 
Ciiauve  (Chauvclin),  treaties  and  conventions  make  the  invasion 
of  Saxony  absolutely   impossible,   it  would   be  better  to  end 


THE    QUEEN'S    DOWRY 

the  matter  at  onee  and  peaceably  than  to  incur  useless  expense 
in  further  pursuing  it ;  for  I  see  no  other  hope  of  its  success." 
Stanislas  began  to  regret  the  adventure  ;  "  You  are  to  be 
envied,"  he  wrote  to  his  wife,  Catherine  Opalinska,  and  his 
daughter,  "  You  are  to  be  envied  my  dear  ones,  for  being 
together  as  you  inform  me,  and  for  the  dinner  you  have  had 
with  mother.  I  believe  I  would  be  willing  to  fast  on  bread 
and  water  for  a  whole  year  to  be  one  of  the  party." 

He  could  at  least  depend  on  the  inhabitants  of  Danzig,  who 
remained  faithful  to  the  deposed  king  even  after  the  coronation 
of  Augustus  III  in  the  Cathedral  of  Wavel  at  Cracow  on  January 
17,  1734.  But  the  eight  hundred  defenders  of  the  gallant  town 
could  do  little  against  the  bombardment  which  the  Russians 
had  commenced.  Ten  thousand  Polish  supporters  hoped  to 
concentrate  in  Danzig,  but  they  were  soon  dispersed  on  the 
frontiers  of  Pomerania,  Help  from  France  might  still  have 
saved  all,  but  Fleury's  abandonment  of  Stanislas  was  obvious. 
Plelo  wrote  to  the  Court  unceasingly  :  "  Send  us  a  fleet  as  soon 
as  possible  ;  we  have  only  ourselves  to  depend  on.  I  should 
wish  above  all  that  M.  Duguay-Trouin  should  be  in  command. 
His  name  alone  is  worth  a  squadron.  Moreover,  we  must  have 
a  spirited  leader  who  does  not  immediately  wish  to  be  back 
again  at  Brest.  .  .  .  Were  all  Germany  and  all  Italy  to  be 
taken  from  the  Emperor  it  would  not  enhance  our  prestige  so 
much  as  the  capture  of  the  King  of  Poland  and  the  fall  of 
Danzig  would  shame  us  and  damage  our  reputation." 

While  promising  a  squadron,  Fleury  only  sent  one  flotilla 
without  stores  or  ammunition.  On  their  arrival  in  Denmark, 
Fleury's  t;he  men  had  to  be  revictualled  by  the  ambassador, 

illusory  who  discovered  that  the  soldiers  were  supplied 

support.  with  but  seven  rounds  a  piece  !     "  Has  such  a 

thing  ever  been  seen  as  that  only  seven  rounds  should  be 
served  out  to  men  who  were  going  to  meet  the  enemy,"  he 
wrote  to  Chauvelin  ;  "as  for  the  flints,  it  is  shameful  that 
anyone  should  dare  to  supply  them."  This  was  not  all.  The 
flotilla,  equipped  as  it  was,  arrived  before  Danzig  on  May  11  ; 
three  days  later,  during  the  night,  the  French  rejoined  their 
ships  and  set  sail  for  Copenhagen.  La  Motte,  the  commander, 
had  been  frightened  by  the  numbers  of  the  enemy  and  the  small- 

93 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

ncss  of  liis  own  force  ;  possibly  also  he  did  not  take  his  com- 
mission scriousl3\  Modern  historians  have  some  reason  for 
thinking  that  Fleury,  after  his  custom,  must  have  sent  the  officer 
secret  contradictory  instructions.  Whatever  was  the  cause, 
Stanislas  was  abandoned.  "  The  King  of  Poland,"  said  Monti, 
"  is  plunged  in  the  deepest  grief.  Consider  what  my  own  nmst 
be  !  The  whole  toANTi  is  in  tears  ;  the  relief  so  long  expected, 
which  did  such  honour  to  the  King  .  .  .  has  set  out  from 
France,  only  to  become  the  laughing-stock  of  Europe.  .  .  . 
The  Vistula  has  never  seen  the  French  flags.  They  should  never 
have  come  if  it  was  but  to  flee.  Condole  with  me  !  "  Plelo 
also  wrote  to  the  King  :  "  Never,  Sire,  never  have  your  Majesty's 
arms  suffered  so  shameful  a  disgrace." 

But  the  gloom  was  lightened  by  one  of  the  fairest  acts  of 
heroism   in    all    French    history.      Plelo    reasoned    with    the 

^    ,,     , fugitives,  telling  La  Motte  that  he  acted  in  the 

Death  of  Plelo.      *=         -\,      t^^        ,  •  .  i  i.i      ■,. 

name  of  the  Kmg,  his  master,   whose  authority 

he  represented.  Three  other  ships  were  anchored  at  Copen- 
hagen, and  the  fleet  became  almost  the  squadron  that  had 
been  desired.  On  May  20  the  ambassador  informed  the 
French  Court  of  his  decision ;  he  took  over  the  command 
and  himself  led  the  sailors  to  battle.  "  You  will  only  see 
me  again  if  I  am  victorious,"  he  wrote  to  Louis,  "or  if  we 
survive  it  will  only  be  in  a  manner  worthy  of  true  Frenchmen 
and  faithful  subjects  of  your  Majesty."  Addressing  Chauvelin 
he  was  more  explicit  :  '*  The  resolution  I  have  taken  is  extra- 
ordinary, but  the  event  which  causes  it  is  still  more  so.  .  .  . 
The  shame  and  infamy  of  what  has  hapi^cned  can  only  be 
ciTaced  by  a  complete  victory  or  by  the  blood  of  us  all.  .  .  ." 

Lastly,  he  sent  a  letter  to  his  wife,  who  knew  nothing  of  his 
projects  :  "  I  should  be  unworthy  of  the  name  of  Frenchman 
and  of  your  love  if  I  did  not  do  my  duty  on  this  occasion.  My 
heart  is  too  full  to  say  more.  Love,  duty,  glory,  what  ills  you 
bring  me  !  All  that  there  is  to  do,  is  to  get  our  people  to 
Danzig  .  .  .  thence  I  shall  rejoin  you,  never  to  leave  you  again 
in  this  life." 

Plelo  arrived  at  Danzig  on  Mny  23.  Shortly  afterwards  he 
led  an  assault  on  the  enemy's  entrenchments.  The  little  force 
was  compelled  to  retreat  under  a  murderous  fire  from  fifteen 
94 


THE    QUEEN'S    DOWRY 

thousand  Muscovites.  The  dead  body  of  the  ambassador  was 
found  covered  with  wounds  at  the  entrance  of  the  Russian 
camp. 

In  the  chapel  of  Saint-Bihi,  near  Saint-Brieuc,  may  be  seen 
a  memorial  inscription  marking  the  spot  where  this  noble  heart 
was  laid  :  "  Sparge  lauris  sepulchrum,  viator,  et  henedic  nomini 
armorico.  .  .  .  Traveller,  strew  the  tomb  with  laurels,  and 
praise  the  Breton  name.  ..."  This  prayer  is  heard  ;  no  more 
eloquent  proof  of  the  greatness  of  the  sacrifice  can  be  given 
than  the  memory  this  gallant  Breton  has  left. 

Events  moved  rapidly.  Stanislas  in  despair  fled  from  the 
besieged  town  and  abandoned  it  to  its  bitter  fate  ;  he  left  in 
the  disguise  of  a  peasant,  unarmed  save  for  a  thorn  stick.  After 
braving  countless  dangers  he  succeeded  in  reaching  Prussian 
territory,  and  arrived  at  Marienwerder  on  July  3,  on  a  muddy 
cart  which  he  drove  himself.  Danzig  capitulated,  after  a  terrible 
siege  lasting  one  hundred  and  thirty-five  days,  and  the  magis- 
trates were  compelled  to  recognize  the  election  of  Augustus  III. 

The  Queen's  father  found  refuge  with  Frederick  William, 
King  of  Prussia.  He  signed  his  official  abdication  at  Koenigs- 
Stanislas  in  berg,  but  the  Cardinal  hesitated  to  allow  him 
Prussia.  to  re-enter  France.     Stanislas'  letters  are  full  of 

bitter  feeling  :  "  Let  the  ministers  triumph,"  said  he,  "  as  they 
will ;  I  will  triumph  in  my  turn  when  by  divine  assistance  and 
angelic  patience  I  shall  arise  from  my  abyss.  .  .  .  But  now 
there  is  a  new  dagger  in  my  heart,  since  you  tell  me  of  their 
cruelty  in  wishing  to  prevent  me  from  seeing  you.  I  assure 
you  that  they  will  not  prove  the  stronger  in  this  and  I  will  not 
yield.  .  .  ."  He  spoke  the  truth,  for  during  the  course  of  the 
year  (1736),  he  again  saw  his  beloved  Maruchna. 

The  campaigns  continued  on  the  Rhine  and  in  Italy.  Here, 
however,  neither  troops,  supplies,  nor  ammunition  were  wanting. 
Berwick  fell  before  Philippsburg,  struck  by  a  cannon  ball ;_ 
and  Villars  observed  :  "  That  man  was  always  fortunate  !  "i 
The  Marshal  envied  his  glorious  fate ;  he  himself,  completely 
worn  out,  died  in  his  bed  a  little  later,  on  June  17,  1734,  at 
Turin,  the  town  where  he  was  born. 

On  June  29,  1734,  Coigny  won  the  battle  of  Parma,  defeating 
Mercy,  the  Imperial  general,  who  was  killed  with  eight  thousand 

95 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

of  his  men.  INIaillcbois  caj)turcd  Mockna,  but  the  Prince  of 
Wiirtcmbcrg,  avIio  succeeded  Mercy,  avenged  him  by  surprising 
the  Comtc  dc  Broglie  in  his  tent  at  Quistello,  a  reverse  which 
was  redeemed  by  the  victory  of  Guastalhi  on  September  19. 

Don  Carlos  reached  Naples  in  IVIay.  His  general,  the  Duke 
of  Montemar,  distinguished  himself  at  Bitonto,  in  Apulia,  and 
Don  Carlos  ^^^^  Prince  crossed  over  to  Sicily,  where  he  secured 
King  of  the  the  recognition  of  the  rule  of  the  Spanish  Bourbons. 
Two  Sicilies.  The  armies  of  Charles  VI  were  everywhere 
defeated  ;  the  Emperor  won  a  kingdom  for  Saxony,  but  he  lost 
two  others  and  with  them  a  great  part  of  Italy.  It  was  time 
to  think  of  peace.  Flcury  willingly  listened  to  Charles'  hints 
and  sent  a  secret  agent  to  Vienna,  Monsieur  de  la  Baune, 
a  gentleman  in  ordinary  of  the  King's  Household.  The  pre- 
liminaries were  discussed  at  length.  The  Two  Sicilies  went 
to  Don  Carlos ;  Parma  and  Placentia  were  given  back  to 
the  House  of  Austria  ;  Milan  fell  to  the  lot  of  Charles  Emmanuel. 
Stanislas  caused  considerable  embarrassment.  Duke  Francis 
of  Lorraine  had  just  been  betrothed  to  the  Archduchess  Maria 
Theresa,  eldest  daughter  and  heiress  of  the  Emperor,  but  France 
could  not  allow  the  Duchy  to  become  Austrian.  This  new  diplo- 
matic problem  provided  a  means  of  settling  everything.  Lorraine 
Stanislas  Duke  was  to  be  given  to  Stanislas  for  life,  and  was 
of  Lorraine.  afterwards  to  form  part  of  France,  and  thus 
become  a  retrospective  dowry  for  the  Queen,  who,  like  Anne 
of  Brittany,  would  enrich  France  with  a  fair  and  powerful 
province.  In  exchange  Francis  III  was  to  have  Tuscany, 
where  Giovanni,  the  last  of  the  Medici,  was  about  to  die  with- 
out issue.  The  conditions  were  signed  at  Vienna  on  October  3, 
1735,  and  after  interminable  conferences  with  reference  to 
the  cession  of  Lorraine,  they  were  ratified  on  November  18, 1788. 
The  delicate  negotiations  were  carried  through  by  Chauvelin, 
but  this  did  not  restrain  Flcury  from  sacrificing  him  to  his  own 
English  proclivities. 

Stanislas  was  generously  provided  for  ;  he  received  an  annual 
pension  of  two  million  livres,  but  he  had  no  right  of  taxation 
in  Lorraine.  That  province  became  a  source  of  considerable 
wealth  to  the  French  Crown.  Stanislas  sokinnly  entered  on 
his  rule  in  1737.  In  the  future  lie  lived  a  quiet  life  of  philan- 
9G 


THE    QUEEN'S    DOWRY 

thropy  and  patronage,  well  endowed,  but  a  king  without  a 
kingdom,  still  dreaming  at  times  of  the  Polish  throne.  He  was 
worn  out  by  struggles  for  which  he  was  not  fitted,  and  he 
found  in  his  alTeetion  for  Marie  some  consolation  for  his  political 
sorrows.  Before  everything  he  was  a  fond  father  ;  his  corre- 
spondence gives  charming  proofs  of  his  sentiments.  This  hero, 
in  spite  of  himself,  lives  for  us  as  the  prince  who  dearly  loved 
his  Marie. 

In  his  craving  for  economy  the  Cardinal  had  replaced  the 
magnificent  cascade  of  Marly  with  grass  banks,  in  order  to  save 
a  thousand  crowns.  One  day  he  was  discussing  with  the  Queen 
the  events  which  had  brought  Leszczynski  to  his  satisfactory 
retreat  : 

"Believe  me,  madame,"  said  he,  "the  throne  of  Lorraine 
is  better  for  the  King,  your  father,  than  that  of  Poland." 

"  Yes,"  replied  the  Queen,  "just  as  a  grass-plot  is  better 
than  a  marble  cascade." 

Marie  Leszczynska  was  not  without  wit,  but  it  was  her  pleasure 
to  shun  the  society  of  courtiers.  Consequently  she  is  held  to 
have  been  a  woman  of  no  importance.  It  will  be  apparent  later 
on  why  she  adopted  a  secondary  role  and  was  content  to  live 
with  a  few  intimate  friends,  who  knew  how  much  sad  philosophy 
and  what  resources  the  "  good  Queen  "  had  within  herself. 

Principal  Sources.  Journal  historique  ou  Fastes  du  regne  de  Louis 
XV,  1  vol.,  Paris,  1764  ;  Journal  of  Pierre  Narbonne,  1  vol.,  Paris,  1866  ; 
^bbe  Provart.  Vie  de  Marie  Leckzinskn^  i  vnl  ,  Pari-^,  ]794  ;  Rathery, 
Le  Comte  de  PUlo,  1  vol.,  Paris,  1876  ;  Farges,  Recueil  des  Instructions 
aux  Ambassadeurs  (Pologne),  2  vols.,  Paris,  1888  ;  Boye,  Stanislas  Lesz- 
czinski  et  le  troisieme  traits  de  Vienne,  1  vol.,  Nancy,  1898.  We  are  in- 
debted to  this  work  for  a  number  of  new  documents  which  throw  light  on 
the  attitude  of  Fleury  in  the  War  of  the  Polish  succession,  and  provide 
information  on  the  events  in  Warsaw  and  Danzig.  Lacour-Gayet,  La 
Marine  militaire  de  la  France  sous  le  regne  de  Louis  XV,  1  vol.,  Paris,  1902. 


G  97 


CHAPTER  VIII 
THE  ROYAL  FAINIILY 

Ten  birllis.  Portraits  of  the  daughters  of  Louis  XV  in  the  Musde 
dc  Versailles.  The  King's  son-in-law.  Madame  Henriette  and 
the  Due  de  Chartres.  The  exiles  of  Fontevrault.  Madame 
Adelaide.  Madame  Vietoire.  Madame  Sophie.  The  Carmelite 
of  Saint-Denis.  The  Dauphin  and  Dauphine.  How  the  Queen 
spent  her  days.     Idle  existenee  of  Louis.     The  Society  of  Ram- 

bouillet.     The  three  sisters  de  Nesle.  ij 

BETWEEN  1727  and   1737  ten  royal  children  were  born. 
First  came  twins  in  1727,  Louise-Elisabeth,  the  future 
Duchess  of  Parma  and  the  only  daughter  of  Louis  who 
married,  and  Anne-IIenriette  ;    then  in   1728  a  princess  who 

Ten  births.  ^^'^^^  yo"ng  ;  i»  17'29,  to  the  great  joy  of  all 
France,  the  Dauphin  was  bornJ  A  second  son, 
the  Due  d'Anjou,  came  into  the  world  in  1730  and  only  lived 
three  years.  Further,  there  were  Adelaide  (1732),  Vietoire 
(1733),  Sophie  (1734),  Thdrese-Felieite  (1736-1744),  and  last 
of  all,  Louise-Marie  (1737),  Madame  "  dernicre,"  who  was 
afterwards  Sister  Theresc  of  Saint-Augustin,  Prioress  of  the 
Carmel  of  Saint-Denis. 

These  princesses  may  be  seen  in  the  Musec  de  Versailles, 
in  the  rooms  on  the  ground  floor  where  they  passed  the  greater 
Portraits  of  the  part  of  their  lives ;  they  are  there  in  fitting 
Princesses.  surroundings,  amid  scenes  on  which  their  fair 
glances  still  seem  to  rest.  One  might  almost  imagine  they 
were  alive,  so  skilfully  have  the  painters  j)ortrayed  the  beauty 
and  freshness  of  their  young  models.  The  two  eldest  are 
painted  by  Belle  as  well-behaved  children,  looking  dainty 
in  their  hoods.  Adelaide,  in  her  fifteenth  year,  is  shown  by 
Nattier  in  a  costly  rose-coloured  dress,  shot  with  white  and 
embroidered  with  stars,  holding  a  shuttle.  But  this  portrait 
unquestionably  is  suipassed  in  beauty  by  the  portrait  of  Madame 
98 


THE    ROYAL    FAMILY 

Victoire,  in  which  the  artist  has  shown  his  full  talent.  Seldom 
has  he  portrayed  a  smile  with  more  exquisite  simplicity,  or  a  face 
with  more  radiance  and  expression.  There  is  unconscious  grace 
in  the  carriage  of  her  head,  a  head  of  amber  tints,  with  large  soft 
eyes,  and  crowned  by  a  wealth  of  black  hair.  A  dress  of  silver 
and  a  yellow  scarf  which  the  breeze  flutters  lightly,  complete 
the  mellow  harmony  of  this  fine  portrait.  Nattier  gives  us 
less  happy  pictures  of  Mesdamcs  Sophie  and  Louise  ;  in  these 
more  artifice  was  required. 

The  princesses  in  life  sometimes  resembled  their  portraits 
and  had  that  smile  on  their  lips,  but  it  was  not  there  always. 
They  spent  many  monotonous  days  at  Versailles,  at  Fontaine- 
bleau,  at  Choisy,  or  at  Compiegne.  These  costly  changes  of 
residence  were  their  only  distractions  ;  everywhere  they  were 
on  parade  and  dressed  for  ceremony,  whether  at  the  King's 
daily  mass,  at  their  dinner,  at  the  taking  off  of  their  father's 
boots,  or  at  their  mother's  receptions.  On  one  occasion  a  maid- 
of-honour  complained  to  Madame  Adelaide  that  she  was  dressed 
and  undressed  four  times  a  day,  and  did  not  get  a  quarter  of 
an  hour  to  herself. 

"  Madame,"  replied  Louis'  daughter,  "  you  are  free  to  have 
a  week's  rest ;  but  I  have  to  do  it  all  the  year  through,  so  you 
must  allow  me  to  keep  my  pity  for  myself." 

It  is  the  business  of  painters — for  painters  of  royalty  it 
is  their  reason  for  existence — to  show  us  the  flattering  side 
of  this  endless  display  and  finery  ;  but  it  is  impossible  to 
forget  the  sadness  that  is  hidden  beneath  the  furbelows.  It 
is  pleasant  to  believe  in  their  deceitful  outward  appearance, 
so  attractive  are  the  smiling  and  serene  faces  of  the  young  girls. 
Yet  it  is  probable  that  the  princesses  have  more  consideration 
in  the  Chateau  of  Versailles  to-day  than  they  had  at  the  Court 
of  their  father.  Their  biography  is  but  a  few  lines  and  the 
springtime  of  their  lives  was  dreary  ;  and  for  this  Louis  must 
be  blamed.  He  really  had  an  affection  for  his  daughters,  but 
he  gave  them  no  effective  proof  of  it  either  by  precept  or 
example. 

The  eldest  princess  married  in  1739  at  the  age  of  twelve  ; 
she  went  to  Spain  as  the  bride  of  the  Infante  Don  Philip,  son 
of  Philip  V  and  Elizabeth  Farnese  ;   her  departure  was  a  great 

99 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

grief  to  the  whole  royal  family,  though  it  was  a  valuable  political 
gage  of  the  good  relations  between  the  two  cro^^Tis. 

Louise -Elisabeth's  marriage  could  not  have  been  less 
satisfactory  ;  Don  Philip  was  the  least  intelligent  man  in 
The  King's  Spain  ;  he  was  kept  in  leading  strings  by  his 
Son-in-law.  mother  and  had  neither  initiative  nor  will  of  his 
own.  The  unhappy  son-in-law  of  Louis  XV  had  at  least  the 
good  fortune  of  possessing  an  ambitious  mother,  and  a  wife 
who  was  jealous  of  his  dynastic  interests,  and  to  them  he 
owed  the  Duchy  of  Parma  in  1748.  Louise-Elisabeth  led 
a  feverish  existence  ;  she  filled  the  world  with  her  schemes, 
moved  heaven  and  earth  to  gain  her  ends,  went  from  Madrid 
to  Versailles,  from  Versailles  to  Parma,  and  returned  time 
and  again  to  her  father's  Court,  wearing  herself  out  with 
fatigue  and  disappointed  hopes.  She  wanted  something 
better  for  her  husband  and  her  descendants  than  this 
"  hole  "  of  a  Parma,  as  she  called  her  domain.  She  dreamed 
of  reigning  in  Milan,  Corsica,  Poland,  the  Netherlands,  the 
Two  Sicilies,  and  even  in  Spain  itself.  She  had  fresh  hopes 
every  day,  only  to  be  dissipated  by  circumstances  over  which 
she  had  no  control ;  yet  her  illusions  survived  through  all. 
If  she  could  win  nothing  for  herself,  she  believed  she  would 
ensure  glorious  reigns  for  her  son  Ferdinand  and  her  daughters  ; 
one  of  whom  became  Archduchess  of  Austria,  the  other  Queen 
of  Spain.  She  could  not  foresee  the  calamities  which  from  one 
generation  to  another  would  destroy  the  royal  fortunes.  She 
could  in  all  sincerity  declare  that  her  duty  was  her  first  love, 
and  she  performed  her  duty  as  a  princess  with  unusual  energy, 
perhaps  better  than  her  duty  as  a  mother.  Also,  throughout 
she  remained  French  at  heart. 

It  is  possible  that  Louise-Elisabeth's  example  discouraged 
Louis,  and  that  the  hard  struggles  of  the  eldest  condemned 
Madame  ^^^'^  ^^^^  sisters  to  celibacy  ;  but  it  is  also  true  that 

Henriette  and  the  King  was  indifferent ;  his  family  caused  him 
the  Due  little  anxiety.     Did  he  not  leave  them  a  kingdom, 

de  Chartres.  ^  treasure,  and  wealth  that  were  unassailable  ? 
For  a  while  he  seemed  to  favour  the  marriage  of  the  Due  de 
Chartres,  grandson  of  the  Regent,  with  Madame  Henriette. 
The  young  prince  was  much  in  love,  but  one  day,  when  he 
100 


THE    ROYAL    FAMILY 

was  hunting  in  the  King's  company,  he  thought  he  had  found 
a  favourable  moment  while  their  horses  were  side  by  side,  to 
make  his  request  to  the  King  :  "  Sire,  I  have  a  great  hope. 
Your  Majesty  has  not  rebuked  my  father  for  it.  .  .  .  I  would 
further  the  happiness  of  Madame  Henriette,  for  she  would  stay 
in  France  with  Your  Majesty.  May  I  still  hope  ?  "  Louis  leaned 
towards  the  young  prince  and  sadly  pressed  his  hand  twice. 
It  meant  a  refusal.  Was  Henriette  a  victim  of  the  Cardinal's 
policy  as  a  sworn  enemy  of  the  House  of  Orleans  ?  The 
Marquis  d'Argenson  is  perhaps  a  little  too  certain  on  this  point. 
Anyhow,  the  unhappy  princess  died  in  1752,  some  say  of  grief, 
others,  with  more  probability,  of  a  malignant  fever  which 
she  obstinately  refused  to  have  nursed.  A  phrase  of  her 
sister  Louise  sums  up  this  sweet  creature,  so  sensitive  and 
affectionate,  who  was  cut  off  in  the  flower  of  her  age  :  "  Why 
did  they  not  leave  me  at  Fontevrault  ?  I  should  never  have 
known  Henriette  !  " 

Fontevrault  was  an  abbey,  celebrated  in  the  Middle  Ages 
as  the  sepulchre  of  the  Kings  of  England.  It  was  eighty 
The  Exiles  at  leagues  from  Versailles  on  the  borders  of  Maine 
Fontevrault.  and  Poitou.  Four  of  Louis'  daughters  were 
sent  there  in  1738.  The  idea  of  banishing  them  was  Fleury's  ; 
in  his  passion  for  economy  he  asserted  that  the  princesses 
' '  encumbered  the  Chateau  of  Versailles  and  caused  expense." 
Five  were  to  have  been  exiled,  but  Adelaide  presented  herself  to 
her  father  on  his  return  from  mass  ;  she  kissed  his  hand,  threw 
herself  at  his  feet  and  began  to  weep.  The  King  was  touched 
by  the  scene — "  he  wept  a  little  and  the  Court  did  the  same." 
Adelaide  remained.  But  Victoire,  Sophie,  Th6rese-Felicite 
(who  died  there)  and  Louise,  who  was  not  a  year  old,  went  to 
the  abbey. 

There  was  no  one  to  protect  these  innocents  ;  they  did  not 
know  how  to  speak  or  command  like  their  elder  sister,  whose 
imperious  and  masterful  nature  soon  showed  itself.  Adelaide 
had  high  ideas  of  the  prerogatives  of  her  rank.  On  one  occasion 
one  of  her  chaplains  had  the  misfortune  to  pronounce  the 
Dominus  vobiscum  with  too  little  solemnity,  and  she  roundly 
rated  him  after  the  service,  reminding  him  that  he  was  not  a 
bishop  and  had  no  right  to  act  as  one. 

101 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

Tier  beauty  quickly  faded  ;  she  acquired  a  masculine 
a])])earance  which  was  not  unsuited  to  her  baritone  voice.  She 
Madame  had  an  overwhelming  desire  to  learn  everything. 

Adelaide.  She   wished   to   play  every   musical    instrument, 

from  the  horn  to  the  Jew's-harp.  She  learnt  Italian,  English, 
the  higher  mathematics,  and  watchmaking,  without  acquiring 
a  very  deep  knowledge  of  any  of  them.  All  this  we  learn  from 
the  Due  dc  Luynes  and  Madame  Camjian.  She  endeavoured 
to  interfere  in  State  aflairs,  but  had  no  influence  and  could 
scarcely  have  had  any  with  a  father  who  said  of  an  unpopular 
minister  :  "  It  is  better  that  he  should  fall,  since  there  is  none 
but  myself  to  support  him." 

Madame  Adelaide  became  soured  in  her  old  age,  and  as 
aunt  of  Louis  XVI,  she  was  difficult  to  please.  With  her 
sister  Victoire  she  survived  to  the  Revolution,  and  they  both 
died  in  exile  and  poverty  at  Trieste,  one  in  1799,  the  other  in 
1800. 

Thanks  to  her  youthful  energy,  Adelaide  escaped  the 
convent,  while  the  seclusion  of  Fontcvrault  lasted  ten  years 
in  the  case  of  IVIadame  Victoire,  and  twelve  years  in  that  of 
Mesdames  Sophie  and  Louise.  What  did  these  young  girls 
learn  in  their  distant  monastery  under  the  guidance  of  the 
Most  High  and  Puissant  Dame  Claire-Louise  de  IMontmorin 
de  Saint-IIerem  ?  Madame  Campan  relates  that  Madame 
Louise  did  not  yet  know  all  her  letters  when  she  returned  to 
Versailles.  This  is  an  exaggeration,  for  an  autograph  of  the 
future  Carmelite  exists  dated  1746. 

It  was  no  longer  a  time  when  king's  daughters  had 
j)hilosophers  and  men  of  learning  for  their  tutors,  when,  like 
Elizabeth  of  England  they  imderstood  the  classical  tongues, 
and  like  IMarguerite  de  Valois,  sister  of  Charles  IX,  could 
answer  the  speeches  of  ambassadors  in  Latin. 

Fontcvrault  did  not  change  Madame  Victoire.  She  was 
always  essentially  a  princess  and  essentially  melancholy.  She 
Madame  loved     good     living — the     princesses'     fare     was 

Victoire.  marked  by  great  simplicity — she  also  loved  ease. 

She  was  asked  if  she  would  retire  into  some  Carmelite  house  like 
Louise,  and  her  reply  was  pleasing  :  "  Here  is  an  armchair 
which  corrujjts  me  !  "  So  saying,  she  stretched  herself  with 
102 


THE    ROYAL    FAMILY 

enjoyment  in  a  cosy  bergere.  She  was  a  complete  nonentity. 
The  same  may  be  said  of  Sophie,  whose  virtues  and  absurdities 
Madame  Campan  records.  Sophie  always  seemed  to  have 
fallen  from  the  clouds  ;  she  remained  for  months  without 
opening  her  mouth,  and  she  was  never  seen  full  face.  Victoire 
and  Sophie  were  the  antithesis  of  Adelaide.  They  passively 
submitted  to  her  tyranny. 

Louise  on  the  other  hand  revolted,  and  would  not  let  herself 
be  managed  ;  she  sought  refuge  at  Saint -Denis,  and  quickly 
Madame  made  an  independent  position  for  herself.     Thus 

Louise.  she  had  influence  at  court  and  profited  by  it  to 

help  the  Church.  She  possessed  wit  and  gaiety  :  the  ordinary 
dower  of  nuns  who  entered  the  Carmelite  Houses  was  six  thou- 
sand livres  ;  Madame  Louise  doubled  the  amount  and  said  to 
the  Prioress  :  "I  am  giving  you  twelve  thousand  livres,  six 
for  myself  and  six  for  my  hump."  She  is  known  to  have  had 
spinal  curvature.  Until  her  father's  death  she  obtained 
numerous  favours,  but  after  the  accession  of  Louis  XVI,  the 
Court  grew  tired  of  her  ceaseless  demands.  "  Here  is  another 
letter  from  Louise,"  Marie- Antoinette  would  often  say  to 
Madame  Campan  :  "  she  is  the  most  intriguing  little  Carmelite  in 
the  kingdom."  "  This  severe  phrase,"  says  a  historian,  "  has  the 
durability  and  austerity  of  an  antique  bronze  medal."  On  that 
day,  Marie -Antoinette  forgot  the  emotion  she  had  experienced 
in  September  1770,  on  her  aunt's  taking  the  veil,  when  she 
handed  her  the  scapulary,  the  mantle  and  the  nun's  veil  all 
bedewed  with  tears.  She  forgot  the  impressive  ceremony 
when  the  princess,  before  donning  the  mantle  of  Sainte-Therese, 
appeared  before  her  household  in  all  the  splendours  of  an 
apotheosis,  covered  with  pearls  and  diamonds,  whose  fires 
surrounded  her  with  a  sort  of  luminous  mist — "  truly  a  king's 
daughter  in  her  court  robe  threaded  with  silver  and  sprinkled 
with  golden  flowers."  * 

In  her  youth  Madame  Louise  had  loved  the  pleasures  of  the 
chase  passionately  and  on  her  death-bed  her  thoughts  went 
back  to  her  existence  at  court.  Her  last  words  were  :  "  To 
paradise,  quick,  quick,  gallop  !  "  She  thought  she  was  giving 
orders  to  her  equerry. 

*  Jules  Soury. 

103 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

Louis  saw  his  daughters  for  a  few  minutes  practically  every 
(lay  :  to  love  them  was  a  kind  of  duty  in  the  King's  eyes,  and 
The  King  with  he  acquitted  himself  of  the  duty  conscientiously, 
his  Daughters,  but  he  never  thought  of  treating  them  as  more 
than  pretty  dolls.  Between  the  princesses  and  their  mother 
there  was  always  a  certain  coldness,  due,  no  doubt,  to  the 
isolation  in  which  Marie  Lcszczynska  was  left,  and  to  etiquette 
which  the  Queen  could  not  break  as  easily  as  the  King.  That 
Louis'  familiarity  was  a  little  disconcerting,  is  shown  by  the 
nicknames  he  gave  the  princesses  :  Adelaide  was  called  Torchc  ; 
Victoire,  who  was  inclined  to  be  plump,  Cochc  ;  Sophie,  Graillc 
(a  kind  of  crow),  and  Louise,  Chijfc.  This  was  the  fashion  of 
the  age.  We  do  not  find  in  the  eighteenth  century  only  the 
pleasing  elegance  which  has  come  down  to  us  in  the  pictures 
of  Boucher,  in  the  scented  verses  of  the  minor  poets  and  the 
exquisite  chamber  decorations.  In  the  letters  of  the  Duchess 
of  Parma,  for  instance,  there  are  crude  expressions  and  remarks 
worthy  of  a  trooper.  We  may  have  lost  the  artistic  sense  of 
those  times,  but  our  language  at  least  is  more  correct. 

TJie  King  used  often  to  descend  to  Madame  Adelaide's 
chamber  by  a  private  staircase  ;  he  brought  down  colTce  made 
with  his  own  hands  and  took  it  with  her — he  was  fond  also  of 
cooking  dishes  he  had  prepared,  and  on  days  of  high  festival  he 
used  to  go  and  inspect  the  head  cooks  and  supervise  the  roast.  As 
soon  as  the  King  arrived,  Madame  Adelaide  pulled  the  bell  to 
inform  IMadame  Victoire,  who,  as  she  rose  to  go  to  her  sister 
rang  for  Madame  Sophie,  while  she  in  her  turn  rang  for  Madame 
Louise.  The  latter  lived  in  the  most  remote  room,  and  being 
small  of  stature  she  could  not  take  long  steps  ;  she  had  to 
run  as  fast  as  she  could  and  then  only  arrived  in  time  to  em- 
brace her  father  as  he  left  for  the  chase.  At  six  o'clock  in  the 
evening,  the  dehniti  ♦  was  held,  and  the  princesses  publicly 
visited  their  father.  "Each  princess,"  says  Madame  dc 
Campan,  their  reader,  "  put  on  an  enormous  lioop  which  sup- 
ported a  petticoat  trimnud  with  gold  or  embroidery;  they 
fastened  a  long  train  round  tluir  waists,  and  hid  the  ncgUgi 
of  tile  rest  of  their  dress  witli  a  large  cloak  of  black  talTeta 
which  covered  them  up  to  the  chin.      The  gentlemen  of  the 

♦  The  removal  of  the  boots. 
104 


THE    ROYAL    FAMILY 

Court,  ladies-in-waiting,  pages,  equerries  and  ushers  attended 
them  to  the  King's  presence  with  large  torches.  Instantly  the 
whole  palace,  usually  quite  deserted,  was  in  motion.  The 
King  kissed  each  princess  on  the  forehead,  and  the  visit  was  so 
short  that  the  reading,  interrupted  by  it  was  often  resumed 
after  a  quarter  of  an  hour's  interval.  Mesdames  retired  to 
their  apartments,  undid  the  ribbons  of  their  petticoats  and 
trains,  and  again  took  up  their  tapestry,  and  I  my  reading.  .  .  ." 

It  was  with  their  brother,  the  Dauphin,  that  Mesdames 
really  experienced  family  life.  That  Prince  was  twice  married. 
The  Dauphin's  first  of  all  to  Marie-Therese-Raphaelle,  Infanta 
Family  Circle,  of  Spain,  who  left  him  a  widower  in  1746,  and 
later  to  Marie-Josephe  of  Saxony,  daughter  of  Stanislas  Lesz- 
czynski's  rival,  Augustus  III,  King  of  Poland  and  Elector  of 
Saxony. 

Marie-Raphaelle  did  not  live  long  enough  for  any  judgment 
to  be  formed  about  her.  Marie-Josephe  was  a  high-minded 
woman,  well  educated  and  loving  beautiful  things.  She  soon 
made  a  position  for  herself  at  Versailles.  She  had  some  difficulty 
in  winning  the  Dauphin's  affections,  but  thanks  to  Madame 
Henriette,  who  loved  and  supported  her,  she  came  to  know  the 
joys  of  wedded  life.  She  was  morally  strong  and  a  sincere 
Christian,  and  won  universal  esteem.  The  King  had  a  remark- 
able affection  for  her.  She  had  the  merit,  rare  in  those  days,  of 
looking  after  her  children  like  a  simple  bourgeoise,  and  that 
even  before  Rousseau  had  made  maternal  care  the  fashion ; : 
yet  withal  she  was  a  princess,  and  jealous  of  the  prerogatives 
attached  to  her  title. 

The  Dauphin  was  kept  in  the  background  by  his  father.  In 
spite  of  his  distinguished  conduct  at  Fontenoy,  he  was  denied 
a  career  in  the  army,  and  was  given  no  share  in  affairs  of  State. 
His  chief  pleasure  was  to  find  a  quiet  corner  where  he  might 
indulge  his  taste  for  study.  There,  with  a  considerate  and 
obedient  wife,  he  consoled  himself  for  events  which  distressed 
him,  in  which  he  was  compelled  to  take  part,  but  which  he 
could  not  remedy.  In  this  little  circle  Mesdames  also  found 
the  inestimable  pleasure  of  intimacy  between  brother  and 
sister.  There  they  enjoyed  an  innocent  gaiety  always  in  the 
best  taste. 

105 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

During  his  lifetime  the  Dauphin  was  not  understood  ;  he 
was  thought  to  be  an  ovcrp^rown  boy,  apathetic  and  indilTtrcnt. 
The  Dauphin's  He  was  very  Hke  the  Queen,  as  is  shown  ])y  their 
Character.  two  jiictures  by  La  Tour  in  the  Louvre.     Like 

Marie,  lie  had  wit  and  a  sense  of  humour  ;  like  her  he  was  also 
reserved.  His  conversation  was  coherent,  well-informed,  and 
agreeable  ;  no  one  could  have  shown  more  tact  than  he  did  when 
giving  audiences  to  ambassadors.  He  was  a  considerable 
judge  of  character  and  could  express  himself  concisely.  On 
his  death  in  1764,  the  clergy  and  philosophers,  among  them 
Voltaire  and  Diderot,  praised  his  great  qualities.  All  parties 
of  the  jHiblie  sincerely  mourned  him.  It  had  been  hoped  that 
this  prince,  who  possessed  all  the  virtues  of  a  man,  would  have 
also  had  those  of  a  king.  The  writings  he  has  left  testify  / 
to  his  profound  piety ;  they  contain  a  series  of  maxims 
on  laws,  administration,  and  the  interests  of  the  State, 
which  display  sentiments  of  justice,  lumianity,  and  love  for 
the  people. 

On  one  occasion  he  was  leaning  over  the  great  balcony  of 
the  ChiUeau  de  Bcllevue  with  his  eyes  fixed  on  Paris,  when  one 
of  his  friends  approached  him  and  said  :  "  Monsieur  le  Dauphin 
seems  pensive."  "  I  was  thinking,"  he  replied,  "  of  the  pleasure 
a  sovereign  must  feel  in  causing  the  happiness  of  so  many 
people." 

The  Dauphin  would  doubtless  have  shown  more  energy  on 
the  throne  than  did  his  son  Louis  XVI,  but  he  could  only  have 
delayed  the  relentless  march  of  events. 

The  Queen,  like  the  Dauphin,  was  isolated,  but  her  life  was 
aetivf  and  her  days  fully  occupied.  She  was  often  alone  but 
The  Life  of  "  she  always  made  good  use  of  her  time."  Her 
the  Queen.  mornings  were  passed  in  prayers  and  serious 
reading  ;  then,  after  a  short  visit  to  the  King,  there  came 
recreations,  among  others  painting.  The  good  Queen  had 
never  had  a  master  and  she  was  not  highly  gifted  ;  her  pictures 
as  seen  at  Trianon  and  at  the  Carmel  de  Sens,  have  been  re- 
touched by  some  obliging  artist.  She  also  loved  music  ;  she 
played  the  guitar,  the  viol  and  the  harpsichord,  and  was  the 
first  to  laugh  at  her  own  false  notes.  At  half-past  twelve  she 
made  her  toilet,  which  was  followed  by  the  daily  mass  and 
106 


THE    ROYAL    FAMILY 

the  dinner,  at  which  twelve  ladies-in-waiting  attended.  After 
dinner  she  retired  to  her  private  apartments  and  was  no  longer 
Queen,  but  an  "  ordinary  mortal."  She  did  her  embroidery, 
and  spoke  of  her  morning's  reading,  which  malicious  tongues 
said  she  did  not  always  understand.  About  six  o'clock  the 
Court  assembled  in  her  apartments,  though  the  attendance 
was  not  large  ;  afterwards  every  one  tried  to  escape  the  eternal 
game  of  cavagnole  at  the  Duchesse  de  Luynes',  one  of  the 
ladies-in-waiting,  where  Marie  Leszczynska  spent  her  evenings 
and  supped.  The  Dauphin  and  Dauphine  and  Mesdames  were 
bound  to  attend,  but  in  addition  there  were  only  the  Queen's 
intimates,  President  Henault,  Moncrif,  all  the  dowagers,  some 
old  gentlemen  and  some  officers  of  the  Gardes,  like  the  Marquis 
de  Razilly,  a  famous  piquet-player.  Etiquette  was  banished 
from  this  rather  monotonous  society.  The  conversation  often 
flagged,  for  all  ordinary  subjects  such  as  intrigues  and  politics 
were  interdicted.  The  Queen  allowed  people  to  argue  with 
her.  Sometimes  she  was  even  given  a  lesson,  as  the  following 
anecdote  related  by  the  Comte  de  Cheverny  will  show. 

A  certain  Monsieur  de  Flamarens,  Grand  Master  of  the 
wolf-hounds,  was  celebrated  for  his  table  accomplishments. 
The  Queen's  He  wagered  that  he  could  eat  a  rabbit  after  a 
Appetite.  large  dinner,  and   won.      His   achievement   was 

often  spoken  of,  and,  at  one  of  her  suppers,  the  Queen  who 
herself  ate  with  "  a  well  sustained  appetite,"  asked  the  man  of 
the  moment,  without  any  notion  of  giving  offence : 

"  Monsieur  de  Flamarens,  is  it  true  that  at  Monsieur 
d'Ardore's  (the  ambassador  of  the  Two  Sicilies)  you  ate  a 
rabbit  in  two  mouthfuls  ?  "   / 

"  Yes,  Madame." 

"  Then  you  always  have  a  good  appetite,  and  it  is  well 
maintained  ?  " 

"  Yes,  Madame,  and  I  always  pray  that  Your  Majesty  may 
be  equally  blessed  ;  I  know  perfectly  well  that  Your  Majesty 
has  this  morning  eaten  so  and  so."  He  went  on  to  enumerate 
all  that  he  had  seen  the  Queen  eat.  Whereupon  she  was  annoyed 
and  left  the  table  saying  : 

"  It  serves  me  right,  but  I  will  never  speak  to  him 
again." 

107 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

The  King  lived  an  idle  life.  His  chief  occupations  were 
himtino:  and  trifling — habits  wliich  were  encouraged  by  Cardinal 
The  King's  dc  FIcury,  who  only  consulted  him  for  form's 
idle  Life.  sake.     His  chief  care  was  to  avoid  being  bored, 

and.  sueh  being  his  attitude,  he  was  easily  gulled  by  his  courtiers. 
With  the  Queen  he  was  cold  and  indiil'erent,  even  in  the  early 
years  of  their  union.  Marshal  de  Villars  in  his  memoirs,  notes 
a  characteristic  scene  in  September  1727  :  "  The  King  supped 
witli  the  Queen  ;  there  were  very  few  present,  and  as  he  was 
about  to  depart  for  Fontaineblcau  the  next  morning,  it  was 
whispered  that  it  would  be  better  to  leave  them  alone  and 
every  one  quitted  the  room  ;  but  an  instant  later  the  King 
opened  the  door."  Everything  proved  that  the  Queen  loved 
him,  but  was  not  loved  in  return. 

Louis  attended  the  councils,  but  if  he  were  indisposed  to 
the  slightest  extent  they  were  suspended  ;  hunting,  and  in 
winter  sledge  races,  and  excessive  meals  at  the  Menagerie 
followed  by  balls  far  into  the  night,  often  injured  the  royal 
health.  These  diversions  marked  a  new  stage  in  the  King's 
existence.  People  began  to  suggest  that  some  bold  woman 
might  easily  gain  an  influence  over  the  young  idler.  There  were 
ambitious  persons  endeavouring  to  be  the  first  in  the  field  and 
waiting  for  the  right  moment ;  they  encouraged  the  King's 
intimates  to  lay  traps  for  him.  There  were  two  factions  ;  the 
Chantilly  faction  headed  by  Monsieur  le  Due  and  his  mother, 
which  had  but  little  influence,  and  the  Rambouillct  faction,  in 
which  Sophie  de  Noailles,  Comtcsse  dc  Toulouse,  was  most 
prominent. 

Louis  delighted  to  go  to  Rambouillct  to  find  relaxation  from 
state.  The  society  there  was  gay  ;  he  felt  himself  free  and 
showed  himself  a  good  conversationalist.  The 
Comte  de  Toulouse  was  a  kind  of  great-uncle  of 
the  King.  Between  the  interludes,  small  groups  were  formed, 
in  which  Louis,  the  owners  of  the  Chateau  and  Mile,  de  Charolais, 
a  sister  of  Monsieur  le  Due  who  had  quarrelled  with  him,  took 
part.  At  these  meetings  many  favours  were  granted  ;  in 
particular,  the  Comte  de  Toulouse's  son,  the  Due  de  Penthit!'vre, 
secured  the  reversion  to  the  ofTices  and  powers  of  his  father. 
At  Rambouillct  the  idea  originated  of  introducing  the  King  to 
108 


THE    ROYAL   FAMILY 

the  Comtesse  de  Mailly,  nee  Mailly-Nesle,  one  of  the  Queen's 
ladies-in-waiting.  This  lady  was  discreet  and  at  Versailles  had 
the  air  of  a  penitent.  There  is  some  reason  for  comparing  her  with 
Mile,  de  la  Valli^re.    She  was  devotedly  attached  to  the  King. 

Later  on,  her  sister  Madame  dc  Vintimille  was  preferred  to  her, 
and  she  suffered  greatly.  However,  when  Madame  de  Vintimille 
The  de  Nesle  died  in  1741,  she  displayed  great  self-abnegation 
Sisters.  and  returned  to  the  King  to  console  him.     But 

the  King  was  overwhelmed  by  the  event,  and  his  grief  could 
not  be  assuaged.  His  religious  fervour  was  awakened  under 
the  influence  of  this  emotion,  the  first  real  emotion  of  his  life, 
for  when  he  lost  his  parents  and  his  grandfather  he  was  too 
young  to  know  what  had  happened.  He  returned  to  the 
spiritual  observances  which  he  had  abandoned,  and  now  and 
then  he  was  heard  to  express  regrets  inspired  by  the  purest 
Christian  sentiment.     Such  moods  were  rare  with  him. 

Madame  de  Vintimille  bore  no  resemblance  to  her  sister ;  she 
was  arrogant,  bold,  inquisitive,  vindictive,  fond  of  power  and 
of  inspiring  fear,  with  few  friends  and  little  to  attract  them. 
Her  whole  thought  was  for  her  own  interests,  her  only  aim  was 
to  make  the  best  use  of  the  King's  favour,  and  she  would  have 
succeeded  if  she  had  had  the  time.  She  was  "  a  dangerous 
favourite."  Occasionally  her  intentions  were  good  ;  she  en- 
deavoured to  make  a  soldier  of  Louis  by  inducing  him  to 
accompany  the  army.  She  was  hated  by  the  people  of  Ver- 
sailles, who  were  delighted  at  the  news  of  her  death ;  they 
called  her  "  an  infamous  beast."  Insulting  gibes  were  hurled 
after  her  funeral  cortege  by  the  mob. 

Another  sister  of  Madame  de  Mailly  was  also  presented  at 
Court.  Her  name  was  Marie-Anne,  and  she  was  the  widow 
of  the  Marquis  de  la  Tournelle.  Louis  created  her  Duchesse 
de  Chateauroux,  just  as  Antoinette  Poisson,  wife  of  Monsieur 
le  Normand  d'Etiolles  was  created  Marquise  de  Pompadour. 
Nattier  painted  Madame  de  la  Tournelle  as  a  victorious  Aurora 
floating  on  a  cloud.  This  portrait  is  in  the  Museum  at  Marseilles ; 
it  was  the  artist's  first  success.  It  is  a  remarkable  psycho- 
logical study  showing,  in  all  her  disquieting  beauty,  her  of 
whom  it  was  said  :  "  Her  large  blue  eyes  gave  bewitching 
glances,  and  all  her  movements  showed  infinite  grace." 

109 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

The  Diichossc  dc  Chatcauroiix  possessed  a  natural  uil.  and 
tlioiigh  slic  was  quite  ignorant,  she  charmed  by  the  spontaneity 
Mme.  de  of  her  conversation.     All  Madame  dc  Mailly  had 

Chateauroux.  asked  had  been  a  little  alTcction  ;  Madame  de 
Vintimille  died  before  she  had  obtained  all  she  coveted  ;  the 
future  Duchesse,  in  the  words  of  a  chronicler,  "  made  good  terms 
for  herself."  She  asked  for  the  dismissal  of  her  elder  sister, 
and  demanded  titles  and  distinctions  such  as  had  only  once  been 
accorded  in  the  reign  of  Louis  XIV.  The  King  granted  all  her 
desires,  and  her  influence  became  so  great  that  it  was  feared 
she  would  rule  as  absolute  mistress.'  The  Cardinal  tried  to 
check  this  intrigue,  but  failed.  There  Was  a  complete  revolu- 
tion at  Versailles.  Louis  did  not  like  governing  ;  he  never 
entered  into  discussions,  but  merely  gave  his  decision.  But 
Madame  de  la  Tournelle  busied  herself  with  all  that  happened 
both  in  France  and  abroad. 

"  She  docs  not  interfere  in  personal  matters,"  said  Louis  to 
Madame  de  Brancas  ;  "that  would  not  be  worthy  of  her,  but 
she  never  ceases  talking  to  me  of  ministers,  the  Parlement,  and 
peace  ;  which  makes  me  wretched.  I  have  often  told  her  she 
will  kill  me.  Do  you  know  what  she  replies  ?  "  "  So  much 
the  better.  Sire,  a  King  must  be  brought  to  life  again  and  I  will 
revive  you." 

"  I  do  not  understand  it,"  he  said.  He  understood  nothing 
about  it,  but  he  was  involved  in  s})itc  of  himself.  To  do  her 
justice,  Madame  de  Chateauroux  supported  by  Noailles  and 
Richelieu,  had  an  excellent  influence  over  Louis.  More  fortunate 
than  Madame  de  Vintimille,  she  induced  the  monarch  to  share 
the  campaign  in  Flanders. 

The  King's  conduct  had  immediate  consequences.  His  ruinous 
expenditure  burdened  the  Treasury,  and  the  State  fell  into 
the  hands  of  the  favourites.  From  that  moment  the  monarchy 
was  lost  ;  a  vast  ground  swell  was  driving  it  like  a  disabled 
vessel  against  the  rocks.  But  for  the  present  the  sky  was 
clear ;  neither  King  nor  people  saw  any  threatening  signs 
on  the  horizon.  When  Louis  escaped  from  death  at  Mctz  he 
was  called  Louis  the  Wcll-bclovcd,  so  j)owerful  still  were  the 
monareliie  traditions  which  had  brought  about  the  unifleation 
of  the  country. 
110 


THE    ROYAL    FAMILY 

Pkincipal  Sources,  Memoires  de  la  Duchesse  de  Brancas  sur  Louis 
XV  et  Madame  de  Chdteauroux,  Louis  Lacour,  Paris,  1865  ;  Mimoires 
of  Madame  Campan,  3  vols.,  Paris,  1823  ;  Abbe  Proyart,  Vie  de  Madame 
Louise  de  France,  Brussels,  1793  ;  Engerand,  Inveniaire  des  tableaux  com- 
mandds  et  achetds  par  la  Direction  des  bdtiments  du  Roi  (1709-1792),  Paris, 
1901  ;  H.  Bonhomme,  Louis  XV  et  sa  famille,  Paris,  1873  ;  Jules  Soury, 
Portraits  de  femmes,  Paris,  1875  ;  P.  de  Nolhac,  Louis  XV  et  Marie 
Leczinska,  Paris,  1902. 


Ill 


CHAPTER  IX 

"  FOR  THE  PRUSSIAN  KING  " 
1740-1743 

Death  of  the  Emperor  Charles  VI.  Tlic  candidates  for  the  Im- 
perial tlirone.  Plans  of  Frederick  II.  Louis  supports  Charles 
Albert,  Elector  of  Bavaria.  The  war  party.  The  Comte  de  Belle- 
Isle.  His  designs.  The  Emperor's  election.  Frederic  victorious 
in  Silesia.  Treaty  of  Nyniphenburu;.  Two  French  armies  ci'oss 
the  Rhine.  Surprise  of  Prague.  A  letter  of  Maurice  de  Saxc. 
Charles  Albert,  King  of  Bohemia.  Defection  of  Frederic  II. 
Voltaire  congratulates  the  King  of  Prussia.  Abandonment  of 
Prague.  Death  of  Cardinal  de  Fleury.  Religious  and  parlia- 
mentary affairs.  The  Jansenists  and  the  party  of  Paris  the 
deacon.     Portrait  of  Fleury  by  Voltaire. 

ON  October  20,  1740,  the  Emperor  Charles  VI,  the  last 
male  cksecndant  of  Charles  V,  departed  this  life 
at  Vienna.  He  left  behind  him  a  de})leted  treasury 
and  an  army  weakened  by  the  war  of  the  Polish  Succession. 
Death  of  the  The  Pragmatic  Sanction,  his  edict  giving  his 
Emperor  inheritance  to  his  daughter  Maria  Theresa,  wife 

Charles  VI.  of  Francis  of  Lorraine,  the  Regent's  nephew, 
had  been  recognized  during  the  Emperor's  lifetime  by  the 
States  of  the  Empire  and  by  Europe,  with  the  sole  exception  of 
Bavaria. 

But  when  it  was  seen  tliat  C'liarks  Albert,  the  Elector  of  that 
Duchy,  coveted  the  Imperial  throne  of  the  Ilapsburgs,  claiming 
it  through  his  grandmother,  a  daughter  of  Ferdinand  I  and  a 
niece  of  Charles  V,  other  candidates  arose.  Firstly,  there  was 
Augustus  III,  Elector  of  Saxony  and  King  of  Poland.  He  had 
married  Marie- Jos6phc  daughter  of  Joseph  I,  the  elder  brother 
of  Charles  VI  and  Emperor  before  him.  Next  there  was 
Charles  Emmanuel  HI  of  Sardinia,  husband  of  Elisabeth 
Th^rcse,  the  sister  of  Francis  of  Lorraine  ;  and  lastly,  Phihp  V 
112 


"FOR    THE    PRUSSIAN    KING" 

of  Spain,  and  Frederick  II  King  of  Prussia,  who  had  ascended 
the  throne  at  twenty-eight  years  of  age  on  May  31,  in  the  same 
year  1740.  Each  of  the  two  last  named  desired  to  profit  by 
so  important  an  event,  the  former  for  one  of  his  sons,  the  latter 
for  himself. 

Maria  Theresa,  against  whom  all  this  rivalry  and  covetousness 
was  arrayed,  was  twenty-three  years  of  age.  She  was  rather 
attractive  than  beautiful,  well  educated,  intimately  conversant 
with  many  languages,  pious,  simple  and  home-loving ;  she 
brightened  the  gloomy  court  of  her  father  like  a  delicate  flower 
blooming  in  the  crevices  of  an  ancient  building,  to  quote  the  happy 
simile  of  Arneth,  one  of  her  biographers.  As  Queen  of  Hungary 
and  Bohemia,  she  justified  the  judgment  of  the  English  diplo- 
matist, Robinson  :  "  She  is  so  well  fitted  to  reign,  that  she 
already  looks  upon  her  father  as  merely  the  administrator  of 
States  which  belong  to  her." 

Her  most  redoubtable  adversary  was  Frederick  II,  a  young 
sovereign  endowed  with  the  character  of  a  conqueror :  much 
Projects  of  energy  and  no  scruples.  On  hearing  of  the 
Frederick  the  demise  of  Charles  VI  he  wrote  to  his  friend 
Great.  Voltaire  :   "  This  death  upsets  my  pacific  plans, 

and  I  believe  we  shall  be  more  concerned  in  the  months  of  June 
with  gunpowder,  soldiers,  and  entrenchments  than  with  actresses, 
ballets,  and  the  theatre.  .  .  .  The  time  has  come  for  the  total 
change  of  the  old  political  system.  ...  I  am  overwhelmed  with 
business.  I  must  get  rid  of  my  fever,  for  I  need  my  machine, 
and  must  draw  upon  every  resource  at  my  command." 

In  November,  Frederick  again  took  up  his  pen,  and  this 
time  confided  in  Algarotti,  a  pleasant  Italian  of  his  acquain- 
tance ;  "If  you  ask  me  what  is  happening  in  Europe,  I  will 
tell  you  that  Saxony  is  playing  at  knucklebones  ;  that  Poland 
is  eating  salted  beef  and  rotten  cabbage  ;  the  Grand  Duke 
(Francis  of  Lorraine,  Grand  Duke  of  Tuscany)  has  a  gangrene 
in  his  body  and  cannot  make  up  his  mind  to  the  operation 
that  would  heal  him  ;  France  is  playing  a  deep  game  and  watches 
her  prey ;  Holland  trembles  ;  at  Rheinsberg  we  play  and 
dance.  .  .  ."  The  picture  is  amusingly  conceived,  but  the 
King  of  Prussia  was  covering  the  scent.  If  they  were  dancing 
at  Rheinsberg,  they  were  also  meditating  formidable  schemes. 

H  113 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

The  gangrene  of  the  Grand  Duke  needed  a  surgeon's  knife,  and 
the  spceiahst  was  none  other  than  Frederick,  Avho  intended  to 
annex  Siksia  and  to  give  a  good  exampk^  to  his  rival  competitors. 
He  appeak  d  to  old  rights  which  had  been  in  abeyance  for  eighty 
years  ;  but  in  fact  his  troops  were  ready  for  action,  his  finances 
sound,  his  confidence  firm,  and  these  were  his  real  rights,  as 
he  himself  declared,  though  he  did  not  go  so  far  as  to  admit 
that  he  ^^'ished  to  despoil  a  weak  woman.  He  sent  Maria 
Theresa  an  ultimatum,  and  offered  to  lend  his  support  to  the 
claims  of  Francis  of  Lorraine  to  the  Empire,  and  to  pay 
six  million  francs  in  addition,  in  exchange  for  Silesia.  The 
young  Queen  replied  that  she  "  defended  her  subjects  and 
did  not  sell  them."  But  as  a  reply,  the  King  of  Prussia  in- 
vaded Austrian  territory  on  December  22,  1740.  Frederick 
needed  support  and  obtained  it,  blinding  his  allies  and  per- 
suading them  to  co-operate  in  the  bold  stroke  he  proposed  to 
make.  It  was  above  all  for  his  benefit  that  so  many  victims 
bled,  and  that  for  nearly  eight  years,  central  Europe  was  con- 
vulsed. 

Louis  XV  believed  it  his  duty  to  support  the  Elector  of 
Bavaria,  whose  grandmother  was  the  Grande  Dauphine,  IMarie 
Louis  XV  Victoire,  the  mother  of  the  Due  de  Bourgogne. 

supports  the  But  he  had  something  better  to  do  than  to  join 
Elector  of  in  a  war  which  was  to  enrich  the  King  of  Prussia 

Bavana.  y^y  ^  f^^.^.  province  and  to  bring  nothing  to  France. 

The  time  had  come  to  abandon  the  ancient  struggle  with  the 
Hapsburgs,  and  to  be  satisfied  with  the  conquests  which  during 
the  last  century  had  extended  the  domains  of  France,  and  freed 
her  from  the  pressure  of  Austria.  Cambrai,  Besan^on  and 
Strasburg  were  sufficient  guarantees  ;  the  recognition  of  the 
Pragmatic  Sanction,  so  strangely  violated,  had  streng-thened 
and  confirmed  the  new  view  of  the  situation.  But  Fleury, 
whom  Frci 'crick  ironically  described  as  "  a  great  man  endowed 
with  so  many  singular  qualities  .  .  .  the  greatest  man  that 
France  has  had  up  to  now," — was  quite  incapable  of  under- 
standing the  advantages  to  be  derived  from  such  a  voltc-facc.  To 
do  him  justice,  the  prelate  was  stimulated  by  the  impatience  of 
the  young  military  element,  so  long  inactive,  which  was  anxious 
to  win  laurels.  Perhaps  at  bottom  there  was  also  a  desire  to 
114 


"FOR    THE    PRUSSIAN    KING" 

induce  Louis  to  imitate  his  ancestors  in  their  conduct  as  kings 
and  soldiers. 

Public  opinion  on  this  occasion  was  irresistible  and  all- 
powerful.  It  was  one  of  its  first  victories  ;  it  will  be  seen 
whether  the  victory  was  a  fortunate  one. 

The  spokesman  of  the  young  French  war  party  was  the 
grandson  of  the  celebrated  Controller  Fouquet,  Charles  Louis 
The  Comte  de  Auguste  Fouquet,  Comte  de  Belle-Isle,  one  of 
Belle-Isle.  Madame   de   Prie's   victims.     On   the   day   after 

the  Regent's  death  he  had  been  confined  to  the  Bastille  for 
having  been  concerned,  together  with  the  minister  Le  Blanc, 
in  a  scandal  connected  with  military  supplies.  He  was  fifty- 
six  years  of  age  in  1740,  and  was  intelligent,  ambitious,  and 
energetic.  He  knew  all  the  secrets  of  the  Chancelleries,  and 
neglected  nothing  which  could  inform  him  as  to  the  strength 
and  weakness  of  the  various  European  Powers.  He  proposed 
a  great  scheme  to  the  Cardinal ;  this  was  to  place  the  Imperial 
crown  on  the  head  of  the  Elector  of  Bavaria,  and  to  seize  some 
of  the  fairest  states  of  Maria  Theresa — as  though  all  the  pro- 
vinces of  the  Archduchess  were  up  for  auction — in  order  to 
provide  a  suitable  domain  for  the  Elector,  whose  possessions 
were  too  small  to  maintain  the  rank  of  Emperor.  The  Cardinal 
was  attracted  by  the  scheme,  though  he  grudged  the  expense. 
A  hundred  thousand  men  were  required  for  Munich,  but  he 
only  granted  forty  thousand  ;  meanwhile,  he  despatched  Belle- 
Isle,  newly  promoted  to  the  rank  of  Field-Marshal,  as  am- 
bassador extraordinary  to  the  Electoral  Diet  of  Frankfort, 
where  the  proud  representative  of  France's  interests  displayed 
an  almost  royal  luxury,  and  astonished  the  town  with  his 
dinners  and  receptions  and  retinue.  He  visited  the  Electors 
of  Treves,  Cologne,  Mayence,  and  Saxony,  making  liberal  pay- 
ments to  their  ministers  and  secretaries  ;  he  poured  out  money 
like  water,  and  in  the  end  secured  the  victory  of  the  Elector  of 
Bavaria,  who  was  nominated  Emperor  on  January  24,  1742. 
Election  of  On  January  27,  Belle-Isle  wrote  :  "  The  moment 
the  Emperor,  the  Emperor  came  to  the  window  of  the  Town 
Hall  and  was  shown  to  the  people  ...  he  was  greeted  by 
countless  acclamations.  I  had  the  honour  to  be  at  a  window 
with    the    Empress,    who   was   incognita.     The    Emperor   at 

115 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

one  of  these  acclamations  and  outbursts  of  joy,  turned  his 
eyes  towards  me,  and  putting  his  hand  to  the  cro^\•n  of 
Cliarlcmagne  on  his  head,  he  made  me  a  sign,  to  show  that  it 
was  to  the  King  of  France  alone  that  he  owed  the  glory  he  was 
then  enjoying." 

Important  events,  which  must  be  recapitulated,  had  con- 
tributed to  this  success,  and  first  and  foremost  the  victory  of 
Battle  of  f  ^ic  armies  of  the  Prussian  King  over  the  Austrians. 

Molwitz.  On  April  10,  1741,  Frederick  was  almost  surprised 

in  his  headquarters  at  Molwitz  in  Silesia  by  Field-Marshal 
Neippcrg  and  was  obliged  to  fly.  He  owed  the  ultimate  success 
of  that  day  to  Marshal  Schwcrin.  It  is  asserted  that  he  took 
refuge  in  a  mill  where  he  passed  a  night  of  trepidation.  At 
dawn,  Schwerin  came  to  announce  the  defeat  of  his  enemies, 
and  to  bring  him  to  his  army,  covered,  as  was  maliciously  said, 
with  glory  and  Jlour.  However  Frederick  brought  the  laugh  to 
his  owTi  side,  by  wittily  announcing  the  news  to  Voltaire  : 
"  They  say  the  Austrians  are  beaten,  and  I  believe  it  is 
true." 

Belle-Isle  was  happy  in  the  diplomatic  sphere.  On  May  18, 
he  signed  a  treaty  at  Nymphenburg,  the  Elector's  beautiful 
Treaty  of  residence  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Munich.     The 

Nymphenburg.  participants  were  France,  Spain,  and  Bavaria, 
and  later  Saxony  and  Sardinia,  and  they  proposed  to  share 
Upper  Austria,  Bohemia,  Moravia  and  the  Italian  possessions 
of  the  Hapsburgs.  The  Pragmatic  Sanction  was  forgotten. 
Fleury  thought  himself  justified  in  what  he  did  by  saying  that 
the  guarantee  was  subject  to  the  rights  of  third  parties. 

After  long  discussions  Frederick  decided  on  June  7,  to  con- 
clude an  alHancc  with  Louis.  He  promised  to  give  his  support 
to  Charles  Albert,  and  in  return  he  obtained  a  guarantee  for 
his  future  possession  of  Silesia,  and  for  a  present  dispatch 
of  French  troops  into  Germany.  He  acted  up  to  the  reply  he 
gave  to  an  English  ambassador  :  "  Do  not  talk  to  me  of 
grandeur  of  soul  ;  a  prince  must  only  consult  his  own  interests." 
His  manoeuvres  were  astute  ;  he  had  entered  into  negotiation 
with  both  North  and  South,  and  had  accepted  the  aUiance  of  the 
one  who  olTered  most.  "  If  there  is  anything  to  gain  by  being 
honest,"  he  said,  "  we  will  be  honest ;  if  we  must  deceive,  let  us 

lie 


"FOR    THE    PRUSSIAN    KING" 

be  knaves."  All  that  remained  to  Maria  Theresa  was  the  sup- 
port of  England,  but  she  was  able  to  count  on  the  flimsiness 
of  the  coalition  which  was  organized  against  her.  All  the  allies 
were  concealing  their  designs  and  all  had  ulterior  motives. 
Their  shufihngs,  as  Frederick  himself  said,  were  the  miracle 
which  saved  the  House  of  Austria. 

At  this  juncture,  Maria  Theresa  was  crowned  Queen  of 
Hungary  and  received  the  oath  of  her  subjects  at  Presburg  on 
Coronation  of  June  25,  1741,  amid  the  greatest  enthusiasm. 
Maria  Theresa.  "  The  Queen  is  grace  personified,"  said  one  of 
her  admirers,  the  old  diplomatist  Robinson  :  "  when  she  lifted 
her  sword  in  defiance  of  the  four  quarters  of  the  world  (for 
thus  the  Kings  of  Hungary  swore  to  defend  their  people  against 
the  enemy  from  whatever  side  the  danger  came),  it  was  easy 
to  see  that  she  neither  needed  that  weapon  nor  any  other  to 
conquer  those  who  entered  her  presence.  The  old  mantle  of 
St.  Stephen  became  her  as  well  as  the  richest  robes." 

This  festival  preceded  some  sad  to-morrows  for  the  sovereign, 
and  the  chances  of  Louis'  protege  in  his  candidature  for  the 
Empire  were  increased.  The  French  were  duped  by  Frederick 
and  crossed  the  Rhine  in  the  summer  of  1741  ;  one  division, 
commanded  by  Marshal  de  Maillebois,  overawed  George  II, 
Elector  of  Hanover  and  King  of  Great  Britain,  compelling  him 
to  maintain  a  neutral  attitude  to  the  King  of  Prussia's  advan- 
tage and  guarding  Holland  and  the  Netherlands  ;  the  other 
division  was  nominally  under  the  command  of  Belle -Isle,  but  the 
real  leader  was  Marshal  de  Broglie,  This  latter  was  intended 
to  support  the  Bavarians,  of  whom  Charles  Albert  was  Generalis- 
simo ;  in  its  ranks  was  Maurice  de  Saxe,  the  future  victor  of 
Fontenoy,  and  natural  son  of  Augustus  II,  Elector  of  Saxony 
and  King  of  Poland.  He  needed  nothing  but  the  opportunity 
to  show  himself  a  remarkable  general.  There  were  also  Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel Chevert,  a  celebrated  soldier  of  fortune,  who 
gained  his  promotions  step  by  step  at  a  time  when  they  were 
lavished  on  birth,  and  the  delicate  thinker,  Vauvenargues.  The 
Bavarians  entered  Upper  Austria,  and  on  September  10  they 
were  joined  by  the  French,  and  encamped  before  Linz  on  the 
Danube,  three  days  from  Vienna,  which  they  were  afraid  to 
besiege.     They  hoped  to  have  Frederick's  assistance,  but  he 

117 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

■was  content  to  play  the  part  of  spectator,  only  showing  himself 
when  there  was  no  longer  any  need  of  him, 

Charles  Albert's  object  was  Bohemia,  and  he  directed  the 
Franco-Bavarian  army  towards  Prague.  The  siege  of  this 
Siege  of  town   is   famous.     An  ingenious  surprise  was  con- 

Prague,  trived  by  Maurice  de   Saxe.      Besides    him    there 

were  others  who  distinguished  themselves,  the  Comtc  de  Broglie, 
son  of  the  Marshal,  and  Chevert,  who  before  the  assault  ex- 
changed the  well-known  dialogue  with  a  sergeant  of  the  Alsace 
regiment  named  Pascal  : 

"  You  would  like  to  mount  first,  comrade  ?  " 

"  Yes,  colonel." 

"  When  you  are  on  the  wall,  the  sentry  will  cry  ♦  Wer  da  ?  '  " 
(Who  goes  there  ?) 

"  Yes,  colonel." 

"  You  will  make  no  reply." 

"  No,  colonel." 

"  He  will  fire  at  you." 

"  Yes,  colonel." 

"  He  will  miss  you." 

"  Yes,  colonel." 

"  You  will  kill  him." 

"  Yes,  colonel." 

The  sentry  was  not  killed  ;  he  took  to  his  heels.  The 
towTi  capitulated  on  November  25,  without  a  drop  of  French 
blood  being  shed. 

The  letter  which  Maurice  de  Saxe  WTote  to  Belle-Isle,  must  be 
quoted  ;  it  is  grandiose  in  spite  of  the  quaint  orthography  : 

"  Monsieur  .  .  .  vous  aves  desire  que  Prague  fut  pri  et 
il  ait  pri  ;  le  gouverneur  sait  rendus  a  moy  et  je  vous  ^cri 
de  sa  chambre  ;  jc  ne  saur^s  au  demeurant  asscz  vous  faire 
delloge  de  la  valeur  des  troupes  et  surtout  de  la  bonne  eonduite 
de  M.  Chever,  lieutenamp-colonel  de  Bosse  (Beauee) ;  Je  suis 
un  peu  occupd  k  maintenir  I'ordre  ;  sc  qui  n'est  pas  aiss^  dans  una 
villc  prise  I'^p^e  ill  la  main. 

"  Ma-urice  de  Saxe."  * 

*  "Monsieur.  .  .  You  desired  tliat  Prague  should  be  taken  and  it  has 
been  taken  ;  the  Governor  has  surrendered  to  me  and  I  am  writingj  from 
his  apurluitnts  ;  1  am  indeed  unable  to  eulogize  suffieiently  the  valour 
118 


"FOR    THE    PRUSSIAN    KING" 

Some  days  later  the  gates  were  solemnly  opened  to  receive 
Charles  Albert.  He  was  escorted  to  the  Hradschin,  in  the 
cathedral  church,  where  he  was  crowned  King  of  Bohemia. 
It  might  be  said  that  it  was  not  only  the  town  of  Prague  and 
the  crown  of  Bohemia  which  had  been  taken  by  storm,  but 
the  Imperial  dignity  itself. 

The  news  of  this  event  arrived  when  the  Diet  of  Frankfort 
was  sitting,  and  ensured  the  Elector's  success.  Thus  the 
proUgS  of  France  became  Emperor  under  the  title  of  Charles 
VII,  and  a  hard  blow  was  struck  at  the  descendants  of  Rudolf 
of  Hapsburg,  who  had  held  for  many  generations  the  orb  and 
sceptre  of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire.  But  the  insignia  fell  into 
feeble  hands.  Charles  Albert  was  in  no  way  prepared  for  his 
new  position  ;  he  had  neither  energy  nor  initiative,  and  he  had 
not  even  the  money  or  the  troops  necessary  to  resist  the  reprisals 
meditated  by  the  Austrians.  Maria  Theresa's  subjects  were 
fired  by  the  proud  attitude  of  their  Queen  and  were  about  to  make 
fresh  efforts  and  to  avenge  the  loss  of  Prague.  Khevenhiiller 
crossed  the  Danube  and  the  Hungarians  and  the  Croats  invaded 
The  Austrians  Bavaria,  and  reached  Munich  on  the  day  after 
take  Munich,  the  coronation  of  Charles  VII.  The  Emperor 
became  a  John  Lackland.  He  was  at  Frankfort  with  his 
family  without  a  kingdom  in  which  to  exercise  his  illusory 
sovereignty.  All  he  now  possessed  was  Prague,  his  ephemeral 
capital,  while  armies  led  by  Francis  of  Lorraine,  his  brother 
Charles  Alexander,  Lobkowitz,  Neipperg,  and  Koenigseck, 
blocked  his  way  to  Bohemia.  The  unfortunate  Emperor  was 
not  spared  by  the  rhymes  and  lampoons  of  the  time  ;  the  best 
example  was  a  Latin  couplet : 

Aut  nihil  aut  Caesar,  Bavarus  dux,  esse  volebas, 
Et  nihil  et  Caesar  factus  utrumque  simul. 

Which  may  be  translated  : 

Caesar  or  naught,  Bavarian  prince,  you'd  be  ; 
Caesar  and  naught  at  once,  your  destiny. 

of  the  troops  and  especially  the  conduct  of  M.  Che  vert,  Lieutenant 
Colonel  of  Beauce  ;  I  am  somewhat  occupied  in  maintaining  order,  which 
is  not  easy  in  a  town  taken  sword  in  hand. — Maubice  de  Saxe." 

119 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

To  this  disaster  Frederick,  the  ally  of  France,  had  contri- 
buted. He  profited  by  Charles'  weakness  to  carry  on  negotia- 
Frederick's  tions  with  him,  by  which  he  secured,  not  only 
Defection.  Upper    Silesia,    but    also    the    County    of   Glatz, 

dependencies  of  the  Bohemian  crown.  He  also  sounded 
Vienna  ;  finally,  to  give  more  weight  to  his  arguments,  and  make 
some  show  of  keeping  his  official  word,  he  closed  the  route  to 
Prague  for  the  Austrian  army  by  the  battle  of  Czazlau  on 
May  17,  1742.  "  Look  to  yourselves,"  he  then  said  toValori, 
the  French  Minister  at  Berlin  :  "  I  have  gained  my  point 
and  am  going  to  make  my  peace."  This  was  the  signal  for  the 
negotiations  which  ended  in  the  Treaty  of  Berlin  on  July  27. 
The  treaty  guaranteed  to  the  King  of  Prussia  nearly  all  the 
territories  he  coveted  and  secured  the  adhesion  of  the  Elector 
of  Saxony.  France  had  been  tricked  and  Belle-Isle  could 
now  recognize  the  vain  audacity  of  plans  so  easily  upset  by 
a  young  king  whose  double  dealing  he  had  not  suspected. 
France  was  isolated  in  Europe,  both  morally  and  in  fact. 

England  joined  Germany  and  waited  a  propitious  moment 
to  make  her  mark  in  the  struggle.  The  King  of  Sardinia  turned 
to  meet  the  Spanish  troops  massed  in  the  north  of  Italy,  and 
it  was  apprehended  that  Elizabeth  Farnese,  who  had  been 
abandoned  by  Flcury,  would  join  a  coalition  at  the  price 
of  an  establishment  for  Don  Philip.  The  Electors  of  the  Rhine 
deserted  France  one  after  another,  and  even  Charles  VII 
followed  their  example  and  ceded  Bohemia,  with  the  object 
of  regaining  a  roof  under  which  to  hide  his  mortification. 
His  defection  left  France  small  regret,  and  the  memory  of 
a  friendship  which  had  heavily  burdened  her. 

Paris  was  in  consternation.  Voltaire  however,  found 
occasion  to  congratulate  the  King  of  Prussia.  His  letter 
Voltaire  abounds  with  witticisms  and  even  contains  a  pun. 

conCTatulates  The  following  are  some  of  the  passages  :  "  The 
Frederick.  Saigncur  *    of  the  nations,  Frederick  the  Great, 

has  granted  our  prayers.  ...  I  understand  that  your  Majesty 
has  concluded  a  favourable  treaty.  That  it  is  favourable  to 
yourself  cannot  be  doubted,  for  you  have  trained  your  mind 
in  political  skill.     But  there  is  some  doubt  expressed  in  Paris 

*  i.e.  lilood-kttcr ;  this  is  of  course  u  play  on  the  word  "Seigneur."' 
120 


"FOR    THE    PRUSSIAN    KING" 

as  to  whether  it  is  favourable  to  us  French.  One  half  of  our 
people  cries  that  you  have  abandoned  our  troops  to  the  will  of 
the  God  of  war  ;  the  other  half  cries  too,  but  does  not  know 
what  is  the  matter.  .  .  .  Then  you  are  no  longer  our  ally,  Sire  ? 
But  you  will  be  the  ally  of  the  human  race  ;  your  desire  is  that 
each  should  peacefully  enjoy  his  rights  and  his  inheritance  (a 
cynical  statement,  as  applied  to  the  despoiler  of  Silesia)  and 
that  troubles  should  cease  ;  this  would  be  the  philosopher's 
stone  of  politics  ;  a  fit  product  of  your  laboratory.  Say  '  I 
wish  men  to  be  happy '  and  they  will  be.  May  yours  be  a  suc- 
cessful Opera — a  successful  comedy.  May  I  be  witness  of  your 
pleasures  and  your  triumph  at  Berlin  !  " 

Frederick  replied  :  "I  have  little  concern  for  the  cries 
of  the  Parisians  ;  they  are  hornets  who  are  always  buzzing.  .  .  . 
If  all  France  condemns  me  for  having  made  peace,  Voltaire 
the  philosopher  will  never  allow  himself  to  be  carried  away 
by  the  crowd."  The  justification  which  follows  is  too  gross 
to  quote.  Voltaire's  letter  was  intercepted  and  published ; 
he  was  forced  to  disown  it  under  the  threat  of  being  sent 
again  to  the  Bastille. 

These  two  men  who  hold  so  important  a  place  in  the 
Eighteenth  Century,  one  in  the  military  annals,  the  other  in  the 
republic  of  letters,  show  themselves  in  an  unfavourable  light 
at  the  commencement  of  their  careers.  Frederick  twitted 
those  he  had  deceived  ;  Voltaire  clothed  the  ill-timed  homage, 
which  he  laid  at  the  feet  of  his  Majesty  of  Prussia,  in  philosophic 
and  humanitarian  phrases.  Both  were  ignoble ;  but  their 
pettiness  is  forgotten  in  the  grandeur  of  their  achievements  ; 
here  it  is  indeed  the  end  which  justifies  the  means. 

The  climax  was  reached  when  the  French  Marshals,  Broglie 
and  Belle -Isle,  failed  to  agree  as  to  the  orders  to  be  given  to  the 
armies  ;  and  Fleury  accentuated  the  failure  by  writing  to 
Koenigseck  on  July  11,  1742,  a  letter  expressing  his  regrets 
and  excusing  himself  for  having  supported  Bavaria,  and  for 
having  allowed  himself  to  be  carried  away  by  such  disastrous 
coimsels.  A  few  months  earlier,  Maria  Theresa  had  tried  in 
vain  to  soften  the  Cardinal,  and  now  her  only  reply  was  to 
publish  the  letter  in  the  Dutch  papers.  Louis'  minister  replied 
to  this  insult,  by  summoning  to  the  assistance  of  the  French 

121 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

in  Bolicmia  the  troo])s  uiuUt  Mailkbois,  wlio  had  been 
quaittred  in  Westphaha  since  1741  ;  but  the  junction  ^vas  not 
elTccted. 

BrogUe  retired  into  Bavaria,  being  unable  to  maintain  his 
positions  until  winter.  Belle-Isle  evacuated  Prague  in  the 
Prague  night  of  December  16  with  fourteen  thousand  men, 

abandoned.  and  retired  to  Egra,  which  was  half  way  to  Munich ; 
thence  he  retreated  to  Frankfort,  and  informed  Charles  VH 
of  Frederick's  defection,  advising  him  to  make  terms  with  the 
Queen  of  Hungary.  The  retreat  of  Egra  was  terrible  owing 
to  the  rigours  of  the  season.  To  use  an  expression  of  Belle- 
Isle — "  nature  was  forced  "  ;  the  troops  began  to  march  "  at 
moonrise  "  in  order  to  climb  mountains  where  soldiers  had 
never  before  ventured.  An  echo  of  the  sulTerings  endured 
by  the  French  has  come  down  to  us  in  a  funeral  oration  over 
one  of  the  too  numerous  victims.  In  his  Eloge  of  his  friend, 
Paul  de  Seytres,  Vauvenargues  says  :  "  Mourn,  my  hapless 
country,  mourn  these  sad  trophies.  You  arc  covering  all 
Germany  with  your  gallant  soldiers,  and  you  pride  yourself 
on  your  glory  !  .  .  .  Scarce  will  a  remnant  of  a  once  flourishing 
army  see  your  happy  fields  again.  Wliat  perils  !  I  shudder 
at  them.  They  are  fleeing.  Hunger  and  confusion  march 
on  their  furtive  tracks  ;  night  covers  them  and  death  follows 
silently.  You  say  :  Is  this  the  army  which  spread  terror  before 
it  ?  You  see  that  fortune  changes  ;  it  is  afraid  in  its  turn  ; 
it  hastens  its  flight  through  woods  and  snows.  It  marches 
incessantly.  Sickness,  hunger,  and  fatigue  overwhelm  our 
young  soldiers.  Poor  wretches  !  We  sec  them  laid  in  the 
snow  and  inhumanly  deserted.  Fires  lit  on  the  ice  lighten 
their  last  moments.     The  ground  is  their  terrible  bed." 

A  pitiful  consolation  was  found  in  comparing  their  mournful 
achievements  with  the  Retreat  of  the  Ten  Thousand.  But 
what  advantage  did  France  gain  from  this  sacrifice  of  men 
and  money  ? 

At  this  disastrous  period  in  the  fortunes  of  French  arms, 
came  the  death  of  the  man,  who,  in  the  weakness  of  his  ninety 
Death  of  years,  had  allowed  himself  to  be  drawn  into  these 

Cardinal  Fleury.  barren  struggles.  On  January  29,  17'A3,  the 
Cardinal-Minister  died  in  his  retreat  at  Issy.  The  event  had 
122 


"FOR    THE    PRUSSIAN    KING" 

been  long  expected  and  desired.  "  At  last !  "  cried  the  Marquis 
d'Argenson.  "  It  is  certain  that  our  greatest  enemy  is  dead," 
said  Elizabeth  Farnese  to  Don  Philip,  and  she  added  :  "I 
pardon  him  with  all  my  heart  for  the  evil  he  has  done  us,  and 
may  God  give  peace  to  his  soul  !  "  Louis  XV  alone  had  some 
words  of  tenderness  for  "  a  good  friend  "  and  a  "  good  servant  " 
who  was  "  infinitely  attached  to  him." 

The  history  of  these  two  wars  for  the  Polish  and  Austrian 
Successions  is  enough  to  enable  us  to  judge  him  in  his  capacity 
as  Minister  for  European  affairs.  But  we  must  not  leave 
the  Cardinal  without  some  account  of  the  internal  events  in 
which  he  was  concerned. 

Louis  XIV  and  Madame  de  Maintenon  had  left  unsolved 
a  serious  problem  which  placed  the  Church  of  France  in  conflict 
with  the  Papacy,  Galilean  liberty  with  Roman 
The  Jansemsts.  g^premacy.  This  was  the  matter  of  the  Constitu- 
tion or  Bull  Unigenitus.  By  this  celebrated  Bull,  Clement  XI 
in  1713  denounced  the  hundred  and  one  propositions  contained 
in  the  Augustinus  of  Jansenius,  and  quoted  by  Pere  Quesnel 
the  Oratorian  in  his  Abrege  de  la  Morale  de  Vtlvangile.  This 
religious  manual  was  already  twenty  years  old,  and  no  doubts 
had  been  raised  about  it  until  the  Jesuits,  hating  the  Oratorians, 
and  strong  in  the  support  of  Madame  de  Maintenon,  awakened 
the  susceptibilities  of  the  Papacy. 

Cardinal  de  Noailles,  Archbishop  of  Paris,  and  seven  other 
prelates  refused  to  submit  to  the  demands  of  Rome  and  sent 
a  protest  to  the  Holy  See.  The  Regent  at  first  was  not  disposed 
to  interfere,  but,  at  the  time  of  the  intrigues  to  which  Dubois 
owed  his  Cardinalate,  he  intervened  without  success  in  favour 
of  the  Vatican.  The  Lateran  Council,  held  in  1725,  did  not 
succeed  in  restoring  peace  between  the  rival  parties  who  met 
there.  On  one  side  were  the  Jansenists,  who  comprised  ecclesi- 
astics and  parliamentarians.  These  were  called  "Appelants." 
On  the  other  side  were  the  Molinists  and  Jesuits,  called 
"  Acceptants."  In  1727,  Fleury  summoned  the  Provincial 
Council  of  Embrun  which  condemned  Pere  Soanem  of  the 
Oratoire,  Bishop  of  Senez ;  this  was  the  starting-point  for 
a  general  agitation,  which  was  accentuated  by  the  death  of 
the  Deacon  Paris  in  1727. 

123 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

Francois  de  Paris  -was  the  brotlur  of  a  Counsellor  of  the 
Grand'  Chanibre,  and  possessed  an  income  of  about  ten  thousand 
The  Deacon  livrcs.  He  gave  liberal  alms  and  lived  a  simple 
Paris.  and   saintly  life.     Barbier  notes  that  he   "  only 

ate  vegetables,"  "  slept  without  covering,"  and  was  "  a  Jansenist 
in  all  respects."  He  was  buried  at  the  cemetery  of  Saint- 
Medard  in  the  Faubourg  Saint-Marcel.  Almost  immediately 
his  tomb  became  the  resort  of  the  disciples  of  Jansenius,  and 
an  "  astonishing  number  of  people "  followed  them  there. 
The  church  was  some  distance  from  the  centre  of  Paris,  and 
on  the  way  thither  might  be  seen  the  carriages  of  many  people 
of  fashion,  and  even  bishops  and  princes  of  the  blood,  such  as 
the  Comte  de  Clermont,  brother  of  Monsieur  le  Due.  Numbers 
of  sick  persons  went  there  ;  they  lay  on  the  tombstone  and 
had  convulsions,  and  some  of  them  went  back  cured.  But 
these  scenes  acquired  a  bad  character  ;  fraud  was  introduced  ; 
and  the  real  Jansenists  were  discredited  in  consequence.  The 
best  known  of  the  appellant  bishops,  the  Cardinal  de  Noailles, 
after  considerable  hesitation  finally  submitted  to  the  papal 
bull  in  1728  ;  but  the  bishops  of  Troyes,  Auxerre  and  Mont- 
pellier,  and  the  Parlements  of  Paris  and  the  provinces  still 
held  out.  Flcury  had  the  cemetery  of  Saint-Medard  closed, 
but  the  "  convulsionnaires  "  continued  their  practices  in  private. 

The  Parlements  on  their  side  made  Jansenism  a  political 
weapon  with  which  to  encroach  on  the  ecclesiastical  power  and 
to  rouse  an  opposition  sufficient  to  threaten  the  royal  power 
under  the  pretence  of  asserting  Gallican  liberties.  In  1781, 
they  condemned  certain  priests  of  the  diocese  of  Orleans  who 
wished  to  compel  the  faithful  to  range  themselves  on  the  side  of 
the  "  Acceptants."  Fleury  exiled  a  number  of  the  magistrates, 
and  their  colleagues  replied  by  refusing  to  sit,  but  suddenly  the 
King  yielded  and  allowed  the  most  violent  decisions  of  the 
Grand'  Chambre  to  go  unpunished.  Hostilities,  however,  did 
not  abate  ;  nor  did  the  struggle  terminate  until  1756,  after 
many  conflicts  between  the  same  adversaries. 

Flf  ury  died  without  seeing  the  end  of  either  the  European 
or  the  religious  and  parliamentary  troubles.  The  task  he 
left  his  pui)il  was  a  difficult  one.  The  finances  were  in  a 
fairly  prosperous  condition,  owing  to  the  proverbial  economy 
124 


"FOR   THE    PRUSSIAN    KING" 

of  the  Cardinal,  but  it  was  at  the  expense  of  the  navy  and  of 
commerce,  which  had  been  badly  neglected  since  the  death  of 
Louis  XIV.  For  personal  reasons,  which,  according  to  Maurepas, 
he  communicated  to  the  King  alone,  Fleury  did  not  favour  the 
augmentation  of  the  naval  forces.  It  seems  that  he  was  afraid 
of  giving  offence  to  the  English,  who  were  now  about  to  enter 
the  lists  and  to  show  with  complete  cjmicism  how  blind  had  been 
the  confidence  of  their  ally. 

Voltaire  has  left  a  remarkable  portrait  of  the  Cardinal.  He 
shows  him  as  "  hating  all  system,  because  his  intellect  was 
Voltaire's  happily  limited ;  understanding  nothing  of  finance, 

portrait  of  and    only   demanding    of    his    subordinates    the 

Fleury.  strictest  economy;  incapable  of  being  a  clerk  in 

an  office,  but  able  to  govern  the  State."  Voltaire  revenged 
himself  for  the  disdain  Fleury  had  shown  when  he  recommended 
Telemaque  to  him,  and  he  never  cloaked  his  words  with  a  subtler 
irony  than  this. 

Principal  Sources.  Vauvenargues,  Eloge  de  Paul  Hippolyte 
Emmanuel  de  Seytres,  Officier  au  rigiment  du  Roi  ;  Frederick  II.,  Histoire 
de  mons  temps — Politische  Correspondenz  FriedriclCs  des  Grossen  ;  Corres- 
pondence de  Louis  XV  et  du  Marechal  de  Noailles,  2  vols.,  1869.  Due  de 
Broglie  :  Frdddric  II  et  Marie-TMrise,  2  vols,,  1882  ;  Freddric  II.  et 
Louis  XV,  2  vols.,  1885  ;  Marie-TMrese  impdratrice,  2  vols.,  1888.  In 
addition,  the  various  memoirs  mentioned  for  the  preceding  chapters,  and 
especially  those  of  Barbier,  Argenson,  Luynes  and  Noailles. 


125 


THIRD  PART 
LOUIS  XV 


CHAPTER  X 

LOUIS  THE  WELL-BELOVED 
1743-1744  ^ 

The  favourites.  Belle-Isle.  Marshal  de  Noailles.  His  advice 
followed.  Retreat  of  the  army  of  Bohemia.  Intervention  of 
George  II.  Dettingen.  Noailles'  visit  to  the  Emperor.  Louis' 
decision.  Treaties  of  Worms  and  Fountainebleau.  Attempted 
invasion  of  England.  Declaration  of  war  against  George  II  and 
Maria  Theresa.  Louis'  departure  for  Lille.  Visits  to  the  frontier 
towns.  Sieges  of  Menin,  Ypres  and  Furnes.  Treaty  with 
Frederick  11.  The  King  at  Metz.  The  mysterious  coaches. 
Madame  de  Chateauroux  made  the  subject  of  lampoons.  News 
from  Italy.  The  King's  illness.  The  Queen  and  whole  Court  at 
Metz.  The  ill-omened  day  of  August  24.  Frederick  in  Bohemia. 
Louis'  entry  into  Paris.     Death  of  Madame  de  Chateauroux. 

THE  Cardinal  is  dead  !     Long  live  the  King  !  "  was  the 
sentiment   of  the   public,   and  it   was  confirmed  when 
Louis    announced    his   intention    not   to    have    a    chief 
minister  but  to  govern  by  himself. 

Yet  the  position  of  the  King  was  no  more  independent 
than  before.  The  sole  change  was  that  he  became  subject  now 
The  King's  to  a  fresh  and  more  dangerous  tyranny,  the 
Favourites.  tyranny  of  his  favourites.  The  fate  of  France 
began  to  be  decided  in  boudoirs,  the  centres  of  intrigue  and 
ambition.  There  it  was  that  when  ministers  and  generals 
saw  their  favour  rise  or  fall,  and  diplomatic  questions  of  the 
gravest  importance  solved,  they  knew  that  all  depended  on  the 
moods  or  caprices  of  a  woman.  In  the  intervals  of  choosing  a 
precious  stone  or  new  toy,  when  the  correct  spot  had  been  found 
for  the  patch,  when  the  newborn  wrinkle  had  been  hidden  with 
the  assistance  of  some  infallible  paste,  the  favourite  had  leisure 
to  give  her  advice  on  State  affairs.  Everything,  whether 
frivolous  or  serious,  was  treated  as  an  amusement  at  a  toilet- 

I  129 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

tabic  veiled  with  lace  in  the  Avoman's  hour  of  triumph,  when 
madrigals  and  amber-scented  trifles  were  assured  of  victory, 
when  a  smile  was  the  most  potent  argument.  While  a  guitar 
twanged  or  a  parrot  screamed,  amid  the  hum  of  conversation, 
alliances  were  broken,  colonies  lost,  all  Europe  convulsed. 

This  period,  which  became  acute  under  Madame  de  Pompadour, 
was  haj^pily  preceded  by  a  bright  interval;  Louis  began  his 
part  as  King  conscientiously,  and  without  any  illusion  as  to  the 
difficulties  of  his  task.  He  worked  and  studied,  and  he  wrote 
letters  which  were  seen  by  his  correspondent  alone.  It  is  a 
pleasure  to  recall  this  all  too  short  phase  when  Frenchmen, 
delighted  at  the  change,  were  eager  to  display  the  most  de- 
voted loyalty  in  return  for  the  attitude  of  a  king,  then,  indeed, 
worthy  of  his  ancestors.  The  Marquis  d'Argenson  could  ask 
without  any  irony  :   "  Are  we  going  to  have  a  king  ?  " 

Louis  provided  himself  with  a  Mentor.  For  a  while  it  was 
feared  that  it  would  be  Marshal  de  Bcllc-Lsle,  who  came  to 
Eclipse  of  Court    to    make    a    survey,    "  extremely    incon- 

Belle-Isle.  venienced    by    his    sciatica,"    and   only    walking 

"  with  the  support  of  two  men."  The  Marshal  had  carried 
through  part  of  his  programme  with  success  ;  the  Emperor 
owed  his  crown  to  him,  and  the  Grand  Duke  of  Tuscany  had 
been  excluded.  Was  he  responsible  for  the  King  of  Prussia's 
treason  ?  No,  but  he  returned  to  give  a  disastrous  account 
of  the  consequences  of  his  over-ambitious  projects,  and  although 
his  breast  was  covered  with  the  exalted  orders  of  a  Prince  of 
the  Empire,  the  Golden  Fleece  and  the  Cordon  Bleu,  he 
had  temporarily  lost  his  prestige ;  he  retired  of  his  own 
accord  to  his  estate  of  Vernon  near  Gisors.  Couplets  folUwri 
him  in  his  retreat : 

Belle-Isle  fameux  cmpirique, 
Grand  novateur  en  politique, 
Homme  de  guerre  sans  pratique, 
Dans  ses  projects  vTai  frenctique. 
Charge  de  la  haine  publique, 
Porte  a  Gisors  sa  sciatique.* 

♦  Belle-Isle,  the  famous  ennpirie,  the  great  political  innovator,  the 
inexperienced  warrior,  insane  in  his  plans,  loaded  with  the  public  hatred, 
carries  his  sciatica  to  Gisors. 
1,30 


LOUIS    THE    WELL-BELOVED 

Marshal  de  Noailles'  time  had  come  and  he  was  chosen.  Fore- 
seeing the  death  of  Fleury,  Louis  wrote  to  this  faithful  servant 
Marshal  de  November  1742  :  "  The  late  King,  my  great- 
Noailles.  grandfather,  whom  I  desire  to  imitate  as  far  as 

possible,  counselled  me,  on  his  deathbed,  to  seek  advice  in  all 
things  and  to  endeavour  to  know  the  best,  that  I  might  always 
follow  it.  I  shall  be  delighted  if  you  will  give  me  yours.  I 
open  your  mouth,  as  the  Pope  does  to  the  cardinals,  and  I 
permit  you  to  say  whatever  your  zeal  and  attachment  to  my 
person  and  kingdom  may  prompt."  Louis  was  as  good  as  his 
word,  and  received  from  the  Marshal  sound  advice,  founded  on 
the  actual  policy  of  Louis  XIV,  whose  confidant  Noailles 
had  been.  Thus  the  office  of  Prime  Minister  was  suppressed. 
The  Marshal  wrote  to  the  King  :  "  The  rule  of  having  neither 
favourite  nor  Prime  Minister,  which  your  Majesty  will  read  in 
the  directions  of  your  august  great-grandfather,  was  formed, 
as  I  have  had  the  honour  of  learning  from  the  late  King  him- 
self, as  the  result  of  his  long  experience  and  great  skill,  of  his 
profound  studies  of  former  governments,  and  in  particular  of 
the  ministry  of  Cardinal  Mazarin."  In  this  long  memorandum 
Noailles  recalled  the  examples  of  Henri  III,  who  was  ruled  by 
his  favourites  to  the  great  detriment  of  the  State,  of  Henri  IV, 
who  would  never  have  other  counsellors  than  his  own  head 
and  arms,  of  Louis  XIII,  whose  minority  had  been  so  stormy 
and  his  reign  so  troubled.  But  although  the  Marshal  had  not, 
like  Fleury,  the  title  of  Prime  Minister,  he  had  all  the  preroga- 
tives. 

The  pupil  seemed  to  follow  his  precepts  with  docility,  and 
the  public  rejoiced  at  the  change.  Barbier  said  of  Louis  : 
"  He  is  accessible,  he  speaks  at  Versailles,  he  administers  justice 
and  works  with  considerable  knowledge  of  his  subject.  This 
does  not  astonish  me,  for  I  have  long  understood  that  he  was 
intelligent.  .  .  .  What  does  astonish  me,  so  that  it  almost 
seems  uncanny,  is  that  Cardinal  de  Fleury  should  have  had  such 
an  ascendency  over  a  king  more  than  thirty  years  old,  as  to 
prevent  him  from  displaying  all  his  talents  and  to  dominate 
him  in  everything." 

The  first  question  which  arose  was  the  plight  of  the  French 
army  of    Bohemia.      The    cause    of  the   phantom   Emperor, 

131 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

Charles  VH,  was  lost.  It  had  cost  France  sufficiently  dear, 
and  it  had  been  defended  with  chivalrous  unselfishness.  It 
Bohemia  would  become    necessary  to  send  reinforcements 

evacuated.  to  this  exhausted  army  which,  in  a  year's  time, 
^vithout  serious  battles,  had  lost  sixty  thousand  men,  mostly 
from  disease  or  hardships.  It  was  decided  to  evacuate. 
Marshal  de  Broglie  tried  to  bring  his  troops  back  from  the 
Bavarian  frontiers  in  time  to  join  the  army  of  the  Rhine,  the 
movements  of  which  were  directed  from  France  by  Marshal  dc 
Noailles.     But  the  junction  was  not  effected. 

The  struggle  was  concentrated  in  the  Rhenish  and  Flemish 
provinces,  where  Noailles,  at  the  head  of  forty  thousand  men  was 
Battle  of  prepared    to    meet    the    so-called    "  Pragmatic  " 

Dettingen.  army  of  George  II,  who  purposed  to  aid  Maria 

Theresa  and  was  assembling  his  troops  in  the  Electorate  of 
Hanover.  This  was  in  the  spring  of  1743.  The  battle  took 
place  on  June  27  at  Dettingen,  a  village  of  Lower  Franconia, 
while  Broglie  was  still  at  Donauwerth  on  the  confines  of 
Wiirtemberg.  The  French  lost  the  day,  though  Noailles  at- 
tained his  object  of  preventing  the  English  from  entering 
Bavaria.  The  battle  was  lost  through  the  fault,  not  of  the 
Marshal  but  of  his  nephew  the  Due  de  Gramont.  The  latter, 
instead  of  waiting  for  the  attack,  foolishly  charged  the  enemy 
with  his  French  guards,  and  thus  upset  all  Noailles'  plan  of 
defence,  and  rendered  the  artillery  unable  to  fire  for  fear  of 
shooting  Frenchmen.  The  soldiers  in  their  flight  crossed 
the  river  by  swimming,  and  long  retained  the  sobriquet  of 
"  Ducks  of  the  Main."  In  the  general  encounter  the  English 
King  was  almost  made  a  prisoner.  Since  the  morning  he  had 
been  riding  at  the  head  of  his  troops  armed  with  an  enormous 
pistol  and  a  sword  of  prodigious  length,  which  he  drew  from 
time  to  time  saying  :  "  On  at  the  King  of  France  !  he  is  my 
enemy  ;  you  shall  see  how  I  will  fight  him."  While  he  was 
uttering  these  vaunts,  his  horse  shied  at  the  cannonade  and 
threw  him;  he  found  himself  surrounded  by  French  horsemen 
who  would  have  carried  him  olT  had  not  help  arrived  just  in 
time.  This  incident  was  maliciously  revealed  by  the  King  of 
Prussia,  who  took  a  wicked  pleasure  in  making  his  uncle 
ridiculous. 
1 3'J 


LOUIS    THE    WELL-BELOVED 

It  must  be  admitted  that  the  English  army,  and  especially 
the  infantry,  were  capable  of  resisting  "  like  a  wall  of  brass  " — 
to  quote  Noailles.  George  dined  on  the  battlefield,  but 
he  retired  immediately  afterwards,  even  leaving  behind  the 
wounded,  whom  Lord  Stair  commended  to  the  generosity  of 
Marshal  de  Noailles.  "  The  two  generals,"  Voltaire  records, 
"  wrote  letters  which  allow  us  to  see  how  far  politeness  and 
humanity  can  be  carried  amid  the  horrors  of  war."  The  losses 
had  been  equal ;  more  than  two  thousand  men  were  killed  or 
wounded  on  either  side.  The  result  of  the  day  of  Dettingen 
was  absolutely  negative.  Lord  Stair  asserts  that  the  French 
committed  one  great  fault  and  the  English  two  :  "Yours,"  he 
said,  "  was  in  your  not  knowing  how  to  wait ;  our  two  were, 
first,  that  we  put  ourselves  in  obvious  danger  of  being  destroyed, 
and  then,  that  we  were  not  able  to  profit  by  our  victory." 

In  short,  as  Pitt  remarked,  it  was  less  a  victory  than  a 
"  fortunate  escape." 

A  few  days  later  Noailles,  in  a  spirit  of  courtesy  and  kindness, 
went  to  meet  Charles  VII,  who  had  left  Augsburg  and  taken 
Noailles  visits  refuge  at  Frankfort.  He  knew  how  precarious 
the  Emperor,  was  the  situation  of  the  errant  Emperor.  He 
made  him  a  generous  allowance  of  forty  thousand  crowns, 
that  being  the  most  that  France  could  do  at  this  unfortunate 
time.  Charles  obtained  a  suspension  of  hostilities,  promising 
Austria  the  absolute  neutrality  of  the  Imperial  troops.  This 
was  the  signal  for  the  French  armies  to  quit  Germany.  They 
were  only  auxiliaries,  and  as  their  ally  disarmed,  they  retired. 

The  blow  was  painful  to  the  prince  :  "I  am  fully  sensible," 
he  wrote  to  Noailles,  "  that  the  King  is  touched  by  the  situation 
I  am  in.  My  reply  must  be  akin  to  that  the  Duchesse  who 
was  loved  and  esteemed  by  Louis  XIV  (Marie  de  Mancini) 
made  to  that  Monarch  when  she  found  herself  deserted  :  '  You 
are  the  King  ;  you  love  me,  and  I  have  to  go.'  I  in  my  turn 
will  say  :  '  You  are  the  King,  you  are  touched  by  my  fate, 
you  are  the  most  powerful  king  among  my  allies,  and  you 
desert  me  and  I  lose  by  your  desertion  all  that  I  can  lose.  .  .  . 
My  situation  is  the  most  terrible  ever  known  in  history.'  " 

Louis  replied  in  person  and  excused  himself  to  the  best  of 
his  ability.     He  expressed  "the  deepest  grief  "  at  the  thought 

133 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

of  the  Emperor's  "  consenting  to  an  agreement  with  the  Viennese 
Court,"  but  he  promised  never  to  desert  him  in  so  sad  an 
extremity,  to  assist  liim  with  fresh  subsidies,  and  to  continue 
the  war  until  his  Imperial  Majesty  was  "  re-established  in  full 
possession  of  his  States."  The  King  was  really  sincere.  He 
used  the  same  language  to  Noailles,  though  he  added  :  "  It  is 
perfectly  true  to  say  that  we  are  no  longer  at  war,  since  the 
Emperor  has  declared  his  neutrality,  and  we  only  went  to  war 
Ixeause  of  liim.  However,  we  are  at  war.  I  can  hardly  believe 
that  such  a  thing  has  happened,  or  could  ever  happen  ;  but  we 
are  in  a  century  of  extraordinary  things." 

At  this  time  Louis  resolved  to  show  himself  to  his  army, 
and  he  received  the  praises  he  merited  from  his  immediate 
Treaty  of  circle.     They    were    pleased    to    see    in    him  the 

Worms.  blood    of    Louis    XIV    and    Henri    IV.      Under 

cover  of  an  armistice  the  Chancelleries  were  now  very  active. 
The  Treaty  of  Worms,  on  September  23,  1743,  brightened  the 
prospects  of  the  Austro-English  Coalition.  Charles  Emmanuel 
joined  George  II  and  Maria  Theresa.  He  deceived  the  French, 
who,  up  to  the  last  moment,  had  hoped  to  see  the  King  of 
Sardinia  united  with  them  ;  but  they  forgot  that  that  prince 
was  guided  by  the  Italian  proverb,  and  that  he  always  wished 
"  to  have  his  foot  shod  with  two  slippers  at  once."  The  Spanish 
troops  in  Italy,  supported  by  some  French  detachments,  were 
thus  compelled  to  fight  not  only  the  Austrians  but  the  Sardinians, 
and  to  dispute  with  them  the  territories  belonging  to  the  Queen 
of  Hungary,  the  coveted  Milanese  province  among  them. 

Louis  replied  with  the  secret  treaty  of  Fontainebleau  on 
October  2.5.  This  treaty  between  France  and  Sj)ain  guaranteed 
Treaty  of  Na})les  to  Don  Carlos,  Lombardy  to  Don  Philip, 

Fontainebleau.  Bavaria  to  the  Emperor,  and  further  indemnities. 
As  Argenson  says  "  we  engaged  ourselves  to  make  the  greatest 
and  the  most  impossible  conquests  in  Italy."  Philii)  ami  Eliza- 
beth profited  by  Louis'  favourable  disposition  ;  to  please  them 
he  was  to  be  engaged  in  two  dilTcrent  quarters,  to  declare  war  on 
George  H  and  Maria  Theresa,  and  even  to  expose  his  own  person. 
These  grandiose  schemes  were  complicated  by  a  conspiracy. 

England  was  always  threatened  by  the  j)ossil)ility  of  a 
Stuart  restoration.  Among  those  who  favoured  the  re-estabUsh- 
13t 


LOUIS    THE    WELL-BELOVED 

ment  of  the  Catholic  hne  on  the  throne  of  WilHam  of  Normandy, 
the  French  were  at  this  time  in  the  front  rank.  The  entente 
cordiale  was  merely  an  historic  memory.  Charles  Edward, 
eldest  son  of  the  Pretender,  lived  with  his  father  at  Rome,  but 
he  hoped  to  distinguish  himself  by  a  great  deed  :  "  My  head 
must  fall,"  said  he,  "or  be  crowned."  He  succeeded  in  evad- 
ing the  vigilance  of  the  spies  in  the  pay  of  Austria,  who  watched 
his  least  movements.  He  reached  Livorno  in  disguise  and 
landed  at  the  port  of  Antibcs.  He  offered  Louis'  ministers  to 
Invasion  of  attempt  a  diversion  in  England  against  the 
England  House  of  Hanover,  which  was  then  fully  occupied 

planned.  ^th  continental  aflairs.     But  the  attempt  failed, 

though  a  plan  was  drawn  up,  and  Maurice  de  Saxe  was  deputed 
to  command  in  England  in  the  name  of  James  III,  should 
occasion  arise.  At  the  beginning  of  1744  the  Comte  de  Saxe 
went  to  Dunkirk  to  superintend  the  preparations  for  the  expe- 
dition. On  his  return  to  Versailles  he  was  greeted  with  his 
nomination  as  Marshal  of  France,  a  distinction  afterwards  most 
brilliantly  justified  at  Fontenoy. 

Meanwhile,  after  the  battle  of  Toulon  in  February  1744,  in 
which  the  English  Captain  Mathews  was  driven  off  the  French 
coasts  by  the  combined  fleets  of  France  and  Spain,  war  was 
declared  with  Great  Britain  on  March  15.  The  nominal  object 
was  to  stop  the  "  piracy  "  and  pillage  which  continued  to  be 
committed  in  defiance  of  international  law  and  the  most  solemn 
treaties. 

A  similar  message  was  sent  to  the  Queen  of  Hungary  on 
April  26,  when  the  Austrians  tried  to  enter  Alsace  and  preceded 
their  attempt  "  &?/  declarations  as  bold  as  they  were  indecent. ^^ 
Menzel,  the  daring  chief  of  this  army,  insolently  pledged  himself 
to  reconquer  Alsace  and  give  Lorraine  back  to  its  former  masters. 
The  King  resolved  to  attack  the  Dutch  possessions  of  Maria 
Theresa,  and  proceeded  to  do  so  in  spite  of  the  protests  of 
Holland. 

Thus,  in  the  spring  of  1744,  there  was  a  considerable  display 
of  arms.  The  Prince  de  Conti  went  to  the  aid  of  Don  Philip, 
Louis  sets  out  crossed  the  Var,  and  performed  great  feats  on  the 
for  Lille.  other  side  of  the  Alps.    Louis  XV  set  out  for  Lille. 

Altogether  four  French  armies  were  in  action.     Besides  the 

135 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

arniN  of  Italy  commanded  by  the  Prince  de  Conti,  tliere  was  the 
defensive  army  in  Alsace  under  the  command  of  old  Marshal 
de  Coigny,  and  the  Royal  Army,  which  was  divided  into  two 
distinct  ])ortions,  one  of  which  was  prej)aring  to  enter  Flanders 
with  Louis,  while  tlie  other,  as  a  reserve  under  Maurice  de  Saxc, 
was  on  its  way  to  protect  French  territory  on  the  left  bank  of 
the  Rhine. 

The  nation  watched  these  movements  with  pride.  Not  a 
single  complaint  was  made  when  heavy  taxes  were  raised  to 
meet  the  expenses  of  this  war,  in  which  three  hundred  thousand 
men  were  engaged.  The  Court  would  have  liked  to  form  an 
escort  for  the  young  monarch  in  accordance  with  the  tradition  of 
Louis  XIV.  By  the  Court  we  mean  the  Queen,  the  Dauphin, 
and  above  all  the  favourite  of  the  day,  Madame  de  la  Tournelle, 
who  was  now  at  her  zenith  and  had  lately  been  created  Duchesse 
de  Chateauroux  (October  28,  1843);  she  received  the  actual 
possession  of  that  Duchy  and  all  the  prerogatives  and  revenues 
attached  thereto,  amounting  to  eighty-five  thousand  livres  per 
annum. 

The  Queen  attempted  to  get  leave  to  go,  though  it  caused 
her  no  little  embarrassment.  The  Due  de  Luynes  says  as 
much,  and  shows  us  the  stage  at  which  the  relations  between 
the  King  and  Queen  had  arrived  at  this  time.  Not  daring  to 
speak,  the  Queen  wrote  a  letter.  As  the  King  was  at  Choisy 
and  she  feared  that  a  letter  from  her  might  seem  strange,  she 
awaited  his  return  and  herself  handed  it  to  him  as  she  left  the 
petit  lever.  The  duke  adds,  "  I  have  not  seen  the  letter,  but  I 
have  heard  it  said  that  she  offered  to  follow  him  to  the  frontier, 
in  any  manner  he  pleased,  and  that  she  did  not  ask  for  a  reply. 
Probably  this  last  suggestion  will  be  all  that  will  be  accorded 
her."  However,  the  King  did  reply  by  a  refusal  on  the  grounds 
of  the  expense  of  her  journey. 

The  Dauphin,  who  was  close  on  fifteen,  said  :  "  You  must  not 
be  annoyed,  mother,  that  I  am  so  sorry  to  stay  behind  with 
you.  I  cannot  understand  why  the  King  has  left  me.  The 
young  de  Montauban,  who  is  small  and  weak,  has  gone,  and  I, 
who  am  tall  and  strong,  might  well  have  gone  too." 

When  the  Dau])hin  pleaded  for  his  first  experience  of  war 
the  King  made  the  proper  reply  :  "  I  honour  your  desire,  but 
136 


LOUIS    THE    WELL-BELOVED 

your  person  is  too  valuable  to  the  State  until  the  succession  to 
the  Crown  is  assured  by  your  marriage." 

The  Duchesse  de  Chateauroux  applied  to  Marshal  de  Noailles. 
He  also  made  the  expense  a  pretext  to  bar  the  way. 

Thus  Louis  left,  without  the  Court,  with  a  certain  amount 
of  secrecy,  during  the  night  of  May  4,  1744,  after  a  banquet 
at  which  a  large  number  of  people  were  present.  He  did  not 
bid  farewell  either  to  the  Queen  or  to  his  daughters,  but  he 
wrote  to  them.  He  told  his  daughters  that  he  feared  a 
mutual  emotion.  The  Dauphin  alone  had  an  interview  with 
his  father,  who  spoke  to  him  "  in  the  presence  of  Monsieur  de 
Chatillon  [his  tutor]  with  considerable  affection." 

In  company  with  Noailles,  the  King  visited  the  fortresses  of 
Conde,  Valenciennes,  Maubeuge,  and  Douai,  giving  commands 
Louis  XV  and    holding    reviews.     He    was    very    popular : 

at  the  "  he  speaks  kindly,  and  in  a  way  to  turn  all  men's 

frontier  towns,  heads  in  his  favour."  He  was  cheered  every- 
where and  greeted  with  cries  of,  "  Vive  le  Roi  !  We  have  a 
King  at  last !  "  Besenval  says :  "he  attracted  the  gaze 
of  all ;  his  face  so  fair  and  noble,  his  eyes  so  proud  and  yet 
so  mild — all  these  natural  advantages,  whatever  the  impression 
they  created  at  Versailles,  were  further  heightened  by  the  occa- 
sion." At  Lille,  especially,  the  reception  organized  by  Maurice 
de  Saxe  was  extraordinarily  enthusiastic.  #n  May  17  the  army 
advanced  on  the  Lys  near  Menin.  The  King  joined  it  on 
the  23rd  ;  he  reconnoitred  the  place  "  within  pistol  shot," 
and  himself  indicated  the  principal  points  of  attack.  He  super- 
vised the  investment,  and  the  town  capitulated  on  June  4  after 
seven  days  in  the  trenches.  This  first  conquest  was  followed 
by  the  capture  of  Ypres  on  June  24,  and  of  Fumes  on  July  11, 
for  which  the  Comte  de  Clermont  was  responsible. 

A  former  ally  was  greatly  interested  in  this  victorious  march, 
and  decided  to  offer  his  support  to  Louis.  This  was  the  King 
of  Prussia,  yielding  to  necessity  and  self-interest.  The  moment 
was  well  chosen  for  an  intervention  on  his  part.  He  wished  to 
profit  by  the  presence  of  the  Austrian  troops  on  the  Rhine  and 
in  Italy  to  attack  Maria  Theresa  from  the  side  of  Bohemia. 
The  negotiations  lasted  several  months,  and  out  of  the  mass  of 
correspondence  which  passed  it  may  be  interesting  to  quote  a 

137 


T  II  E    EIGHTEENTH    C  E  N  T  U  II  Y 

Icttir  written  by  Frederick  to  Madame  de  Chriteauroux,  which 
clearly  indicates  the  influence  of  the  new  duchess,  and  the  part 
she  played  in  the  most  delicate  matters.  "  I  am  flattered, 
Madame,"  wTote  the  King  of  Prussia,  "  that  it  is  partly  to  you 
that  I  am  indebted  for  the  favourable  disposition  in  which  I 
find  the  King  of  F'rancc,  and  his  willingness  to  form  the  lasting 
bonds  of  an  eternal  alliance  between  us.  The  esteem  in  which 
I  have  always  held  you  is  now  mingled  with  a  sense  of  indebted- 
ness. It  is  unfortunate  that  Prussia  is  compelled  to  ignore  the 
obligations  she  is  under  to  you.  However,  the  sentiment  will  re- 
main deeply  engraved  on  my  heart,  as  I  would  have  you  believe  ; 
ever  your  affectionate  friend,  Frederick." 

Although  matters  were  far  advanced  there  w^as  still  some 
delay.  It  was  only  when  he  saw  the  martial  attitude  of  Louis 
Treaty  with  that  Frederick  finally  decided  to  instruct  his 
Frederick  plenipotentiary,  Rottenburg,  to  sign  a  treaty  in 

the  Great.  Paris    on    June    5.     Without    having    the    least 

suspicion  of  what  was  happening,  Prince  Charles  of  Lorraine 
crossed  the  Rhine.  He  was  driven  back  by  Coigny,  but  he 
returned  in  force,  and  threw  his  troops  upon  Alsace.  France 
was  invaded.  Thereupon  Louis  left  Maurice  de  Saxe  to  con- 
tinue a  defensive  campaign  in  Flanders,  and  advanced  to 
Metz  with  twenty-six  battalions  and  thirty  squadrons,  com- 
manded by  Marshal  de  Noailles.  The  King  intended  to  be  in 
the  front  rank  in  the  defence  of  his  kingdom. 

Following  the  King,  though  a  day  behind  him  on  the  march, 
were  seen  coaches  of  a  very  unmilitary  appearance.  They 
The  King  at  contained  the  Duehesse  de  Chateauroux  and  her 
Metz.  sister,  Madame  de  Lauraguais.     These  ladies  w^ere 

dull  at  Plaisance  on  an  estate  of  Paris-Duverney  and  they 
made  every  cfTort  to  obtain  permission  to  follow  the  operations. 
The  Princcsse  de  Conti,  mother  of  the  general  who  was  acquitting 
himself  so  well  in  Italy,  was  able  by  skilful  intrigues  to  satisfy 
the  favourite.  The  Duehesse  de  Chartres,  the  Princcsse  de 
Conti's  daughter,  who  had  but  lately  married,  wished  to  go 
and  join  her  husband,  since  he  was  reported  to  have  had  a 
fall  from  his  horse  and  to  be  slightly  injured  "  because  of  his 
weight."  The  two  princesses  left  with  the  King's  consent. 
♦*  Such,"  says  Barbier,  "  was  the  beginning  of  the '  Court  of  women 
138 


LOUIS    THE    WELL-BELOVED 

with  the  army.'  "  Presently  others  arrived  at  Lille — Mesdames 
de  Chateauroux  and  de  Lauraguais,  the  Dowager  Comtesse 
d'Egmont,  Mesdames  de  Roure  'and  de  Bellefond  and  the 
Duchess  of  Modena,  who  was  then  in  France  owing  to  the 
invasion  of  her  own  states.  One  after  another  these  ladies 
were  obliged  to  ask  the  Queen's  permission  to  leave  Versailles, 
as  etiquette  demanded.  Marie  was  patient  at  first,  but  when 
the  Duchess  of  Modena  presented  herself,  the  Queen  momen- 
tarily lost  patience,  and  said  with  some  asperity  :  "  She  may 
make  her  stupid  journey  if  she  likes  ;  it  does  not  matter  to  me." 

The  favourite  had  gained  her  point.  But  she  had  to  pay 
dearly  for  this  "  stupid  journey,"  and  the  pleasure  of  playing 
The  favourite  the  part  of  vivandiere.  The  disapproval  was 
with  the  Army,  universal.  Songs  were  written  giving  voice  to 
the  most  violent  sarcasm  at  her  expense,  and  during  the  progress 
of  herself  and  her  sister,  nothing  but  hoots  and  jeers  were  heard. 
However,  the  favourite  soared  far  above  terrestrial  incidents  and 
after  the  capture  of  Ypres  she  proudly  wrote  to  her  uncle,  the 
Due  de  Richelieu  :  "  Assuredly,  dear  uncle,  we  have  agreeable 
news,  which  gives  me  the  keenest  pleasure.  I  am  overwhelmed 
with  joy.  Ypres  captured  in  nine  days  !  Can  you  not  see  that 
nothing  could  be  more  glorious  or  flattering  to  myself,  and  that 
his  great-grandfather  in  all  his  greatness,  never  did  as  much  ? 
But  subsequent  events  must  be  kept  at  the  same  pitch  ;  they 
must  always  maintain  this  appearance.  We  must  hope  ;  and 
I  flatter  myself  that  it  will  be  so,  for  you  know  that  it  is  my 
nature  to  see  everything  in  a  rosy  light,  and  that  I  believe  my 
star,  which  I  value  (for  it  is  not  a  bad  one),  influences  every- 
thing." She  posed  as  a  martial  Egeria  with  some  dignity,  it 
must  be  admitted.  But  the  star  of  which  she  was  so  proud 
was  soon  to  lose  its  lustre. 

So  Louis  was  at  Metz  preparing  for  great  deeds  and  abandon- 
ing easy  conquests.  We  come  now  to  August  4,  1744.  On  the 
preceding  day  Schmettau,  the  envoy  of  Frederick  II,  had  come, 
bearing  the  congratulations  of  his  master  who  admired,  possibly 
with  sincerity,  the  haste  with  which  Louis  flew  to  the  succour 
of  his  people.  On  the  7th  a  magnificent  supper  was  given  in 
honour  of  thePrussian  officer,  during  which  there  were  premature 
celebrations  of  the  exploits  which  were  to  end  the  conflict  in 

139 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

Alsace  and  Boluniia.  The  excitement  was  the  stronger  since 
tlie  (lispatehes  from  Italy  announced  a  fresh  victory,  the  capture 
of  Castcl  Delphino  by  the  Bailli  do  Givry. 

On  August  8  the  King  woke  up  with  a  fever,  owing  to  the 
fatigue  of  the  journey,  the  excessive  lieat.  or  the  too  generous 
The  King's  libations  of  the  night  before.  The  malady  grew 
illness.  worse  and  on  the  11th  he  was  given  uj)  for  lost. 

At  his  bedside  were  the  Duchesses  de  Chateauroux  and  de 
Lauraguais,  who  took  it  upon  themselves  to  impose  silence  on 
every  one,  and  jealously  guarded  the  entrance  to  the  royal 
chamber.  However,  they  had  to  admit  the  Princes  of  the  Blood 
— the  Due  de  Chartres  and  the  Comtc  de  Clermont — and 
dignitaries  like  the  Due  de  Bouillon,  the  Grand  Chamberlain, 
and  the  Bishop  of  Soissons,  the  King's  chaplain.  The  King 
himself  understood  the  gravity  of  his  condition,  and  Madame  de 
Chateain'oux  was  compelled  to  leave  him.  He  made  his  con- 
fession to  Pere  Perusseau,  and  when  it  became  a  question  of 
administering  the  last  sacrament,  P'itz-James,  the  Bishop  of 
Soissons,  insisted  on  the  immediate  dcjxirture  of  the  favourite. 
Louis  did  not  hesitate,  but  ordered  the  duchess  to  leave  Metz. 
The  rite  of  extreme  unction  was  administered  by  the  Grand 
Almoner  in  the  presence  of  the  Princes  of  the  Blood  and  the 
great  officers  with  extraordinary  pomp.  Fitz-James  made  him- 
self the  spokesman  of  the  dying  king,  and  declared  that  he 
asked  pardon  from  all  for  the  bad  examjile  he  had  given. 

The  road  from  Versailles  to  Metz  was  furrowed  by  the  coaches 
that  bore  Marie  Leszezynska,  the  Dauphin,  and  Mesdames. 
The  Queen  and  At  Saint-]\Ienehould  the  cnrtc<ic  met  the  carriages 
Court  at  Metz.  of  Madame  de  Chateauroux  travelling  in  the 
opposite  direction,  pursued  by  the  invectives  of  the  populace. 

The  Queen  went  to  the  King's  bedside  and  was  alone  with 
him.  He  embraced  her,  saying :  "  I  have  caused  you  much  sorrow 
which  you  do  not  deserve  ;  I  beg  you  to  forgive  me  for  it." 

"  Do  you  not  know,  Monsieur,"  she  replied,  "  that  you  never 
need  pardon  from  me  ?  God  alone  has  been  olTended.  Con- 
ecrn  yourself  with  God  alone,  I  beseech  you."  The  Queen  burst 
into  tears,  but  she  wrote  to  Madjunc  de  Alaurepas  that  she  was 
"  the  happiest  of  mortals."  The  King  was  better,  and  everything 
was  to  be  hoped  from  so  fervent  a  conversion. 

The  fears  which  threw  all  France  into  consternation  were 
140 


LOUIS    THE    WELL-BELOVED 

changed  into  joy  as  soon  as  it  was  known  that  Louis  was  out  of 
danger,  that  he  had  repented,  and  was  prepared  to  make  amends. 
The  people  of  Paris  embraced  the  horse  of  the  messenger  who 
pubHshed  the  news  of  his  convalescence.  A  poetaster  named 
Vade  was  able  to  say  with  truth :  "  he  is  Louis  the  Well-Beloved," 
an  expression  which  echoed  the  sentiments  of  the  nation. 
The  enthusiasm  was  such  that  the  King  exclaimed  :  "  What  have 
I  done  to  make  them  love  me  so  much  ?  " 

For  all  too  short  a  time  he  was  a  king  after  the  heart  of  his 
devout  Christian  subjects.  The  people  rejoiced  to  see  that 
Louis  merited  their  affection,  and  they  trusted  him  and  were 
ready  to  follow  him  in  his  new  path. 

He  began  to  talk  of  rejoining  his  troops.  Meanwhile,  accord- 
ing to  Voltaire,  he  sent  to  remind  Noailles  that  when  Louis  XIII 
was  being  carried  to  the  tomb,  the  Prince  of  Conde  was  winning 
the  battle  of  Rocroi.  Unfortunately  the  Marshal  had  nothing 
of  the  great  captain  about  him.  Too  much  was  expected  of 
this  timid  time-server  ;  he  could  do  nothing  except  when  he  had 
a  pen  in  his  hand. 

Noailles  was  in  Alsace  in  pursuit  of  Charles  of  Lorraine,  who 
had  received  orders  to  retire  and  come  to  the  support  of  Bohemia 
against  the  King  of  Prussia.  The  prince  abandoned  his  posi- 
tions, Saverne  and  Haguenau,  taking  care  not  to  risk  a  battle 
and  so  diminish  his  army.  It  was  most  important  to  prevent 
him  from  crossing  the  Rhine.  But  owing  to  the  slackness  of  the 
pursuit  he  succeeded  in  effecting  his  object ;  he  burnt  the  bridges 
behind  him  to  obstruct  his  enemies,  though  they  made  no 
attempt  to  strike  at  him.  Public  opinion  about  the  Marshal 
was  unequivocal.  It  was  rumoured  that  he  had  a  wholesome 
fear  of  cannon  balls,  that  he  had  given  as  many  as  thirty-five 
different  orders  in  a  day,  that  he  never  knew  what  course  to 
take.  One  night  a  wooden  sword  was  fastened  to  the  door  of 
his  house  in  Paris,  where  insulting  songs  were  current  about  him : 

Amis,  d^baptisons  Noailles  : 

Tout  autre  nom  mieux  lui  convient. 

Comment,  le  sien  rime  a  batailles  ! 

Eh  !  morbleu  !   e'est  rimer  trop  bien  !  * 

*  Friends,  let  us  rechristen  NoaiUes,  any  other  name  would  better  suit 
him.  Why  his  name  rhymes  with  6aiai7/es .'  Eh!  morbleu!  The  rhyme 
is  too  good. 

141 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CiE  N  T  U  II  Y 

He  returned  to  Metz  to  find  a  eold  rceeption.  His  inHuence 
was  at  an  end.  Louis  no  longer  asked  him  for  his  advice,  and 
for  the  future  used  him  only  in  purely  ornamental  services. 
He  sent  him,  for  instance,  to  Spain  in  the  followincj  year  as 
ambassador  extraordinary  to  Philip.  Close  relations  ceased 
between  the  King  and  his  Nestor. 

At  this  time — on  August  23 — Frederick  invaded  Bohemia 
with  eighty  thousand  men,  and  there  he  heard  what  had  been 
Frederick  done.     He    wrote    Louis    a    letter    in    which    his 

invades  ill-humour    was    apparent,    and    he    said    quite 

Bohemia.  plainly  to  Schmettau  :     "  I  do   not  know   what 

to  think  of  Marshal  de  Noailles'  behaviour  (he  had  almost 
accused  him  of  treason).  ...  I  desire  you  to  make  strong 
complaints  to  the  King  of  France." 

He  would  have  had  the  French  troops  join  him  in  Bohemia. 
But  only  half  measures  were  adopted.  The  Comtc  de 
Clermont,  with  a  small  detachment,  endeavoured  to  join 
Charles  VIFs  army  for  an  advance  into  Germany.  He  took 
Constance  in  September  an*J  Munich  in  the  following  m»nth. 
The  main  body  of  the  French  forces  was  directed  to  the  further 
side  of  the  Rhine,  above  Strasburg ;  thence  they  invaded  the 
nearest  territories  of  Austria  and  besieged  Freiburg,  the  cajHtal 
of  Brcisgau.  The  King  was  still  weak  and  convalescent,  but  he 
arrived  at  the  town,  and  it  was  captured  in  his  presence  on 
November  8.  Frederick  had  taken  Prague  on  Se})tember  15, 
but  had  been  driven  out  again  two  months  later  by  Charles  of 
Lorraine.     Then  came  winter  to  suspend  operations. 

Louis  returned  to  Paris  on  November  13.  In  spite  of  a  cold 
and  rainy  evening  and  of  a  wind  which  was  strong  enough 
Louis'  entry  to  extinguish  the  illuminations,  a  large  crowd 
into  Paris.  assembled   to   greet   him.     The   enthusiasm   was 

enhanced  when  they  saw  how  thin  he  was  and  how  much  he 
had  changed.  Frederick,  and  with  him  all  France,  was  anxious 
to  know  whether  the  convert  of  Metz  would  keep  the  })romises 
he  had  made  so  solemnly,  and  whether  he  would  continue  faithful 
to  the  Queen.  France  feared  and  hoped,  but  Frederick  prayed 
that  the  favourite  would  regain  her  influence  and  be  useful 
to  him.  Hitherto,  Louis  had  listened  to  the  Duchesse  de 
Chateauroux  alone,  and  the  King  of  Prussia  rehcd  on  her  to 
142 


LOUIS    THE    WELL-BELOVED 

make  his  ally  act,  to  urge  him  to  strong  mcasm'cs,  and  in  par- 
ticular to  persuade  him  to  appoint  a  minister  of  foreign  affairs, 
who  would  be  ready  to  accept  advice  in  furtherance  of  Prussian 
policy.  This  post  had  been  vacant  since  the  dismissal  of  Amelot, 
Chauvelin's  successor,  on  March  27,  1744.  Two  important 
events  took  place  at  this  time — the  disgrace  of  the  Dauphin's 
tutor,  the  Due  de  Chatillon,  who  had  openly  expressed  his  ap- 
proval of  the  dismissal  of  the  favourite  and  had  delivered  a 
moral  lecture  thereon  for  the  edification  of  his  pupil ;  and  the 
disgrace  of  Monsieur  de  Balleroy,  private  secretary  of  the  Due  de 
Chartres,  and  related  to  the  family  of  Fitz-James.  His  fault  was 
that  he  belonged  to  the  religious  party.  These  two  had  been 
singled  out  because  the  striker  had  not  dared  to  aim  higher. 
During  the  five  days  fete  in  Paris  the  prevailing  topics  of  con- 
versation were  Madame  de  Chateauroux  and  her  victims,  and 
her  probable  reinstatement.  But,  as  Barbier  says,  no  one  dared 
speak  openly. 

As  s©©n  as  the  King  returned  to  Versailles  these  rumours 
were  confirmed.  It  was  reported  that  Madame  de  Chateauroux 
had  been  received  privately  by  Louis,  and  that  she  had  reason 
to  be  contented  with  the  results  of  the  interview.  Everything 
was  to  be  forgotten,  the  insults  of  Metz  were  retracted  and  the 
forfeited  rank  of  lady-in-waiting  was  restored  to  her.  Paris 
was  stupefied,  and  public  opinion  was  voiced  by  the  women  of 
the  Halles  when  they  cried  :  "  As  he  has  taken  back  his  favourite 
we  shall  no  longer  say  a  Pater  for  him." 

Two  days  after  her  visit  to  the  King  the  duchess  in  her  turn 
caught  a  fever  and  was  almost  immediately  in  a  critical  condi- 
Death  of  tion.     During  the  fortnight  that  her  illness  lasted 

Madame  de  the  public  followed  its  progress  and  phases  with 
Chateauroux.  more  curiosity  than  emotion,  without  attempting 
to  disguise  the  fact  that  they  considered  that  this  mysterious 
illness  was  opportune.  In  the  Rue  du  Bac  where  the  Duchess 
was  staying  with  Madame  de  Lauraguais  there  was  a  constant 
stream  of  messengers  from  the  King,  the  Queen,  and  the  Court, 
inquiring  for  her.  The  dying  favourite  made  her  confession  to 
the  Jesuit  Pere  Segaud  and  received  the  last  sacraments.  She 
died  on  December  8. 

She  was  buried  three  days  later,   at  seven  o'clock  in  the 

143 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

morninf]:.  in  the  chapel  of  Saint  IMieliel  in  Saint-Siil])icc.  A 
time  when  the  streets  would  be  little  frequented  was  pur- 
posely selected  for  fear  of  popular  demonstrations  like  those 
that  had  occurred  at  the  funeral  of  Madame  dc  Vintimille. 

The  King's  grief  was  very  great,  and  the  peoi)le  had  to  re- 
strain their  joy  for  fear  of  injuring  his  health.  But,  in  the  peace 
which  j)reeeded  new  camj)aigns,  preparations  were  made  for 
the  marriage  of  the  Dauphin  to  the  daughter  of  Philip  V,  and 
these  occupied  every  one's  attention.  During  the  fetes  which 
celebrated  this  event  Louis  forgot  his  grief,  as  at  Christmas  he 
forgot  his  contrition  of  August  ;  he  did  not  approach  the  Holy 
Table,  as  was  the  custom  of  the  Court. 


144 


CHAPTER  XI 

"  AS  STUPID  AS  THE  PEACE  " 
1745-1749 

The  marriage  of  the  Dauphin.  Madame  Lenormand  d'Etiolles  at 
the  masked  ball  at  Versailles.  Madame  de  Pompadour's  role. 
Death  of  the  Emperor.  The  Marquis  d'Argenson,  Minister 
for  Foreign  Affairs.  The  defection  of  the  Elector  of  Bavaria. 
The  Battle  of  Fontenoy.  Louis'  advice  to  his  son.  A  letter 
from  Voltaire  to  Argenson.  New  victories.  Military  events  in 
Italy  (1745-1746).  Conditions  of  peace.  Louis  XV  and  Maria 
Theresa  duped.  Discontent  of  the  people.  The  announcement 
of  the  peace. 

IN  1745  the  Dauphin  was  slender  and  graceful,  as  he  is 
represented  in  the  pastel  by  La  Tour  in  the  Louvre.  He 
was  like  his  mother,  and  the  good  Queen's  subtle  and 
resigned  smile  was  to  be  seen  again  on  the  face  of  this  boy 
Marriage  of  of  sixteen.  The  Dauphine,  the  Infanta  Maria- 
the  Dauphin.  Teresa-Raphaella  was  four  years  older  than  her 
husband.  She  was  ugly,  red-haired,  and  austere,  but  she 
inspired  the  Dauphin  with  a  deep  love.  The  Dauphin  was 
married  for  reasons  of  State  to  assure  the  succession,  and  for 
family  reasons  to  cement  the  reconciliation  of  the  two  crowns. 
At  the  same  time  he  was  made  happy,  a  rare  event  in  diplo- 
matic marriages.  His  happiness  only  lasted  two  years,  for 
Maria-Teresa-Raphaella  died  in  July  1764,  after  giving  birth 
to  a  daughter  who  died  in  infancy. 

The  marriage  celebrations  at  Versailles  and  Paris  were 
magnificent ;  memoir-writers  and  draughtsmen  have  preserved 
them  for  us,  and  help  us  to  picture  the  rejoicings  of  the  time. 
There  is  an  engraving  by  Cochin  of  the  masked  ball  given  at 
Versailles  on  February  25,  1745,  at  which  Louis  noticed  for  the 
first  time  Antoinette  Poisson,  an  elegant,  graceful,  and  very 
pretty  young  lady  of  the  Court,  who  had  already  appeared 

K  145 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

frequently  at  the  royal  hunts,  in  the  forest  of  S6nart.  She  wastlie 
^vife  of  Lcnormant  d'Etiolles,  nephew  of  Tournchcm,  the  Director 
Madame  of  Public  Works.  She  became  by  the  King's  favour 

Lenormant  Marquise  de  Pompadour  and  ev^cn  a  duchess.  She 
d'Etiolles.  -^y^s  tlicn  radiant  in  all  the  charm  of  lier  twenty- 

four  years.  Madame  de  Chateauroux  was  already  forgotten 
by  Louis,  and  the  little  boiirgcoise  was  about  to  enter  upon 
twenty  years  of  absolute  jxiwer. 

Madame  de  Pompadour  appears  to  posterity  surrounded  by 
the  writers  and  artists  whom  she  ]:)atronized  with  so  gracious 
an  appreciation.  She  had  the  head  and  the  heart  of  a  true 
patriot,  and  yet  history  is  obliged  to  admit  that  the  influence 
she  exercised  for  a  quarter  of  a  century  over  political  matters 
was  harmful.  On  the  surface  her  reign  was  nothing  but  laughter 
and  pleasure  ;  the  atmosphere  in  which  she  lived  seemed  to  be 
tinted  with  rose  and  blue  ;  we  see  her  through  the  pictures  of 
Boucher  with  which  she  loved  to  surround  herself.  Around  the 
Marquise  were  to  be  heard  the  murmur  of  light  conversation 
and  the  applause  which  hailed  her  as  a  sovereign  when  she 
trilled  ariettas  from  an  opera  in  the  theatre  of  the  "  Petits 
Appartcments,"  a  worthy  pupil  of  Jelyotte  ;  the  air  was 
filled  with  madrigals.  Such  are  the  futilities  we  connect  with 
the  Pompadour. 

But  this  fairy  Eldorado  vanished  before  the  eyes  of  those  who 
understood,  and  the  hour  of  disaster  was  at  hand.  There  was 
no  one  capable  of  steering  the  tempest-tossed  vessel  to  anchor- 
age— least  of  all  Louis.  No  statesman,  not  even  Choiscul,  was 
strong  or  disinterested  enough  to  dethrone  the  favourite  and  to 
give  a  lesson  to  this  King,  so  eager  to  avoid  the  responsibilities 
of  his  throne. 

However,  before  the  final  reckoning,  there  was  one  more 
bright  incident  to  record  in  the  annals  of  the  eighteenth  century. 
On  May  11,  1745,  the  gallant  descendants  of  the  heroes  of 
ancient  France  were  gathered  round  the  King  and  his  son.  All 
the  chivalry  of  the  French  nobles  was  concentrated  at  Fontenoy, 
and  if  Louis  earned  a  halo  by  his  presence  at  this  triumph  of 
French  arms, what  should  be  the  crown  of  the  real  victors  ? 

Some  months  previously  it  was  almost  decided  to  make  })eaee. 
Important  tidings  received  in  their  winter  quarters  took  the 
146 


"AS    STUPID    AS    THE    PEACE" 

belligerents  by  surprise.  On  January  20  the  phantom  Emperor, 
Charles  VII,  died  of  aggravated  gout,  leaving  a  son  who  was  too 
Death  of  young  to  undertake  the  government  of  the  Elec- 

the  Emperor  torate  of  Bavaria  and  still  less  able  to  claim  the 
Charles  VII.  Imperial  throne.  The  real  cause  of  the  war 
thus  disappeared  ;  it  was  left  to  the  Chancelleries  to  decide 
what  should  be  done. 

The  new  Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs,  the  Marquis  d'Argenson, 
found  at  the  outset  that  his  task  was  difficult.  He  was  of  a 
speculative  turn  of  mind,  and  had  long  interested  himself  in 
international  politics  in  the  seclusion  of  his  retreat.  He  thought 
himself  ready  for  action.  But  he  had  little  knowledge  of  men. 
He  was  an  intimate  friend  of  Voltaire  and  trusting  in  him, 
he  believed  in  the  good  faith  of  Frederick.  He  had  not  sufficient 
foresight  to  arrange  a  peace  with  Maria  Theresa  at  the  price 
of  consenting  to  the  election  of  Francis,  Grand  Duke  of  Tuscany, 
to  the  Imperial  crown  ;  nor  had  he  the  courage  to  secure  a 
concentration  of  forces  in  the  heart  of  Germany,  and  so  bar 
the  way  to  Austria  and  annihilate  her  claims.  His  policy 
was  one  of  uncertainty  and  hesitation.  Two  years  were 
wasted  in  attaining  a  result  which  might  have  been  realized 
in  1745. 

The  King  of  Prussia  might  have  assisted  with  his  advice, 
but  he  was  scheming.  Appearing  all  along  to  consult  France, 
Defection  of  he  made  overtures  for  an  alliance  with  England 
the  Elector  of  and  Holland,  and  while  he  was  engaged  in  these 
Bavaria.  futile  attempts  an  event  occurred  which  ended 

the  uncertainty  of  the  French  minister.  The  young  Elector 
of  Bavaria  yielded,  placing  himself  at  the  discretion  of  Austria, 
and  acknowledging  her  supremacy  over  all  Southern  Germany. 
He  subscribed  to  an  ultimatum  dictated  by  Maria  Theresa 
and  retained  his  Electorate  by  submitting  to  the  following 
terms  :  renunciation  of  the  Empire  and  of  the  slightest  claim 
to  any  part  of  the  Austrian  succession  ;  complete  adhesion  to 
the  Pragmatic  Sanction ;  promise  of  the  electoral  vote  of 
Bavaria  in  favour  of  the  Grand  Duke,  and  immediate  rupture 
of  all  alliances  with  Louis  and  Frederick.  These  terms  were 
embodied  in  the  Treaty  of  Fiissen  on  April  22. 

At  this  juncture  when  Frederick  asked  for  French  support 

147 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

lie  received  very  little  eneoiirageineiit.  The  Freiieh  and 
Prussians  were  allies  in  name  only  ;  they  acted  separately  and 
each  defended  their  own  interests  without  any  concerted  plan. 
Louis  resolved  to  resume  the  Flanders  campaign  and  to  follow 
up  the  conquests  of  1744.  All  preparations  had  been  made 
during  the  winter  by  Marshal  Saxe,  and  when  the  King  and  the 
Dauphin  arrived  at  headquarters  on  May  8,  INIaurice  had 
invested  Tournai  and  was  prepared  to  try  conclusions  with 
the  enemy  composed  of  English,  Dutch,  Hanoverians  and 
Austrians  to  the  number  of  sixty-five  thousand,  under  the 
command  of  the  young  Duke  of  Cumberland,  the  second  son 
of  George  II. 

The  engagement  took  place  to  the  south-west  of  Tournai 
in  the  direction  of  Antoing,  near  the  village  of  Fontenoy,  A 
Battle  of  memorable   day   it  was,  and   marked   by   many 

Fontenoy.  deeds  of  valour  showing  the  spirit  of  both  armies. 

Some  weeks  before  Fontenoy  it  was  feared  that  Maurice  de 
Saxe  would  be  unable  to  accompany  the  army,  for  he  was 
suffering  from  dropsy.  Voltaire  meeting  him  in  one  of  the 
galleries  at  Versailles  asked  him  if  he  would  not  endanger  his 
life  if  he  went  with  the  army.  Maurice  answered  indilTerently  : 
"  It  is  not  a  question  of  living  but  of  setting  out."  He  was 
tapped  for  his  complaint,  and  then  directed  and  won  the  battle 
from  a  wicker  carriage  which  drew  groans  from  him  at  every 
jolt.  The  English  were  full  of  confidence  and  saw  themselves 
already  in  Paris.  Cumberland  had  declared  :  "  I  will  get 
there  or  I  will  eat  my  boots."  "  Here  is  an  Englishman  who 
is  a  bit  of  a  Gascon,"  remarked  Maurice,  "  but  if  he  likes  to 
eat  his  boots  we  will  make  it  our  business  to  prepare  them 
for  him." 

The  English  officers  were  equally  sure.  At  the  first  en- 
counter with  the  French,  they  greeted  them  as  they  would 
have  greeted  acquaintances  on  a  })ublic  j)ronienade.  Then  there 
was  a  halt,  while  Lord  Charles  Hay,  Captain  of  the  Guards, 
came  forward  to  say  to  the  Comte  d'Auteroche,  Lieutenant  of 
the  Grenadiers  :  "Monsieur,  let  your  men  fire." 
f^  l>  "  No,  Monsieur,  this  honour  shall  be  yours  !  " 
7'^There  is  another  version  of  this  dialogue,  which  has  been 
popularly  accepted,  in  which  Auteroche  is  supposed  to  have  said  : 
148 


"AS    STUPID    AS    THE    PEACE" 

"  Messieurs  the  English,  iire  first  !  "  Be  that  as  it  may,  it  is 
probable  that  under  the  veil  of  courtesy  the  French  were 
obeying  Maurice's  orders.  His  tactics  were  not  to  make  too 
much  use  of  his  muskets.  He  held  that  "  troops  should  never 
be  in  a  hurry  to  fire  first,  as  if  they  fire  in  the  presence  of  an 
enemy  who  reserves  his  reply,  they  are  bound  to  be  defeated." 
The  English  fought  valiantly.  Their  impenetrable  column  of 
infantry  made  success  doubtful  for  several  hours.  For  a  moment 
every  one  thought  of  Dettingen,  but  the  last  charge  was  terrible, 
and  the  "  French  vivacity  "  was  irresistible.  The  Dauphin 
"  with  a  natural  impulse  took  his  sword  in  hand  with  perfect 
grace,"  wishing  to  join  the  charge,  and  was  only  restrained  with 
difficulty.  The  young  Duke  de  Gramont,  who  had  been  re- 
sponsible for  the  defeat  of  Dettingen,  died  at  Fontenoy.  A  bullet 
struck  his  horse  : 

"  Take  care,  sir,  your  horse  is  killed,"  some  one  cried  to 
him. 

"  And  so  am  I,  sir,"  he  answered. 

His  thigh  was  shattered  and  he  died  an  hour  later. 

The  slaughter  was  terrible.  At  the  end  of  the  day  Louis  left 
the  hill  of  Notre -Dame -aux-Bois  with  his  son,  and  passed  before 
his  victorious  regiments  who  greeted  him  with  wild  cheers, 
and  threw  themselves  on  the  ground  to  kiss  his  feet.  Then  he 
pointed  to  the  heaps  of  corpses  and  said  :  "  See,  my  son,  what 
a  victory  costs.  Learn  to  be  chary  of  the  blood  of  your 
subjects."  Developing  the  King's  idea  the  Marquis  d'Argenson 
wrote  to  Voltaire  :  "  Triumph  is  the  most  beautiful  thing  in  the 
world  :  cheers  for  the  King,  hats  in  air  and  on  bayonet  ends, 
the  master  complimenting  his  warriors,  joy,  glory,  affection  ; 
but  the  groundwork  all  this  is  human  blood,  and  shreds  of 
human  flesh.  ..." 

"  I  think  that  this  check  will  take  down  the  English  pride  a 
little,"  wrote  Maurice  de  Saxe.  "  The  action  lasted  for  nine 
hours,  and  although  I  am  dying  I  stood  the  fatigue  as  well  as 
if  I  were  in  full  health.  The  King  and  his  only  son  insisted  on 
being  present  on  the  other  side  of  the  river,  and  practically 
without  means  of  retreat.  ...  I  cannot  say  enough  of  the 
King's  firmness  of  mind  and  calmness.  He  did  not  disturb  our 
operations  by  giving  orders  counter  to  mine,  which  is  often  to 

149 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

be  feared  when  a  monarch  is  present  with  his  Court,  and  eannot 
see  things  as  they  arc." 

Some  amends  were  due  from  Voltaire  to  make  the  people 
forget  his  untimely  ailection  for  the  King  of  Prussia.  He 
Voltaire's  made  them,  not  in  his  poem  Fontcuoy,  which  is 

Letter  to  lacking  in  spontaneity,  but  in  the  following  short 

Argenson.  ^^te  addressed  to  his  friend,  Argenson  :    "  What 

a  splendid  occui)ation  for  a  historian  !  "  (He  had  just  been 
made  Royal  Historian.)  "  The  kings  of  France  have  not  per- 
formed so  glorious  a  deed  for  three  hundred  years.  I  am  wild 
with  joy.      Bon  soir,  Monseigncur.'^ 

A  generous  impulse  of  the  Marquis  d'Argenson  made  him 
wish  to  follow  up  this  glorious  battle  with  proposals  of  peace. 
He  ordered  the  Abb6  de  La  Ville,  the  plenipotentiary  at  The 
Hague,  to  make  overtures  to  the  States-General  of  Holland. 
"  On  the  occasion  of  so  complete  a  victory,"  he  said,  "  when 
the  Netherlands  lie  unprotected  and  our  victory  is  prac- 
tically assured,  an  offer  of  peace  made  in  all  sincerity  would 
be  the  act  of  a  hero  and  a  statesman."  He  spoke  in  Louis' 
name. 

But  it  was  not  to  be,  and  peace  had  to  be  sought  sword  in 
hand.  Frederick,  to  quote  his  own  expression,  met  the  bill 
which  Louis  had  drawn  on  him  at  Fontenoy  by  his  victories  of 
Friedberg  in  Silesia  and  Kesseldorf  in  Saxony.  lie  then  signed 
with  Austria,  on  December  25,  1745,  the  Treaty  of  Dresden,  by 
which  his  rights  in  Silesia  and  the  ])rovinee  of  Glatz  were 
acknowledged.  In  Italy  the  Infante  Don  Philip  won  the  battle 
of  Bassignano,  but  lost  that  of  Plaeentia.  On  the  death  of 
Philip  V,  in  July  1716,  his  successor,  Ferdinand  VI,  terminated 
the  active  intervention  of  the  Spanish  troops  and  kept  them  on 
the  defensive. 

France  was  thus  left  to  fight  alone — in  Flanders  against  the 
allies  defeated  at  Fontenoy,  in  Raly  and  the  South  of  France 
New  against  the  Austrians.  who  were  now  free  from 

Victories.  the  pressure  of  the  Prussians.     She  bravely  stood 

her  ground.  Raueoux,  in  1746,  and  Lawfeld,  in  1747,  were 
brilliant  sequels  of  Fontenoy  ;  once  again  the  ability  of  Maurice 
de  Saxe  was  manifested.  Mention  may  be  made  also  of  the 
capture  of  Berg-oj)-Zooni  by  Lowendal,  and  the  siege  of 
150 


"AS    STUPID    AS    THE    PEACE" 

Maestricht.  Flanders  became  French  once  more  and  Holland 
had  to  witness  the  invasion  of  her  territories. 

In  Provence,  Maillebois,  with  the  assistance  of  Chevert, 
repulsed  the  Austrians  and  Sardinians  who  had  occupied  Cannes 
and  Antibcs,  and  were  preparing,  with  the  encouragement  of 
the  English,  to  besiege  Toulon,  In  consequence  of  these  achieve- 
ments the  Republic  of  Genoa  revolted,  and  succeeded  in  throw- 
ing off  the  foreign  yoke.  Its  success  was  due  to  the  Due  de 
Boufflcrs  and  the  Due  de  Richelieu,  and  to  Belle-Isle's  unsuc- 
cessful diversion  at  Col  d'Assictta  which  induced  the  King 
of  Sardinia  to  withdraw  all  his  troops  from  the  coast. 

After  this  the  preliminaries  of  peace  were  mooted  at  Breda, 
Peace  of  Aix-  and  a  treaty  was  drafted  which  was  signed  sub- 
la-Chapelle.        sequently  at  Aix-la-Chapellc  on  October  30,  1748. 

What  had  France  gained  ?  She  had  heroically  defended 
the  Emperor,  but  on  the  death  of  Charles  VII  she  had  lost  interest 
in  the  Imperial  election,  and  as  a  result  the  crown  went  to 
Francis  of  Lorraine,  husband  of  Maria  Theresa,  and  the  aspira- 
tions of  France's  enemy  were  assured.  Frederick  at  least  ac- 
quired Silesia.  But  Louis  kept  none  of  his  conquests  in  Flanders, 
because,  as  he  said,  he  wished  to  "  act  like  a  king  and  not  like 
a  tradesman."  He  was  content  that  the  Duchies  of  Parma, 
Placentia,  and  Guastalla  should  go  to  his  eldest  daughter's 
husband,  the  Infante  Don  Philip,  who  had  become  the  pretext 
for  the  war  after  the  death  of  Charles  VII.  In  America  France 
recovered  Louisburg  and  Cape  Breton — a  meagre  return  for  her 
expenditure  of  lives  and  money. 

The  King  of  Sardinia,  like  Frederick,  gained  territory.  The 
Republic  of  Genoa  won  its  independence.  The  Duke  of  Modena, 
the  Regent's  son-in-law,  recovered  his  duchy,  which  he  had 
lost  in  supporting  France. 

In  spite  of  her  defeats,  the  real  triumph  was  with  England. 
From  the  commercial  point  of  view,  which  with  her  was  the  most 
important,  she  obtained  the  right  of  importing  negroes  (Asiento) 
and  of  trading  with  the  Spanish  colonies  for  four  years.  Politi- 
cally, she  obtained  a  renewal  of  the  stipulation  made  at  Utrecht 
for  the  demolition  of  the  fortifications  of  Dunkirk,  and  secured 
the  banishment  of  the  Stuarts  from  France. 

Charles  Edward,  called  also  the  ChevaUer  de  St.  Georges, 

151 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

wlu)  had  been  under  Frencli  protection,  and  was  tlie  nation's 
guest  in  Paris,  was  arrested  at  the  Opera,  condueted  to 
Charles  Edward  ^'i»ccnnes,  and  thence  over  the  frontier.  Tliis 
banished  outrage  aroused  severe  comments  ;   the  King  did 

from  France,      not  escape  satires  and  Hbels,  and  he  was  told  : 

"  He  is  a  king  in  chains.     What  are  you  on  the  throne  ?  " 

Maria  Theresa  also  was  deceived.  Intelligent  observers  saw 
in  the  Treaty  of  Aix-la-Chapelle  a  Protestant  victory  over  the 
two  most  ancient  Catholic  monarchies  in  Europe.  After  this 
appeared  the  first  signs  of  a  rapprochement  between  Ilapsburg 
and  Bourbon,  and  of  that  reversal  of  alliances  which  has  been 
so  warmly  defended  by  many  modern  historians. 

The  people  were  greatly  discontented  with  the  results  of 
the  war,  although  on  the  cessation  of  hostilities  the  burden  of 
Popular  the    taxes  was    lightened.     The    women    of   the 

Discontent.  Halles  expressed  the  general  feeling  when  they 
abused  one  another  for  being  "  as  stupid  as  the  Peace  " — which 
passed  into  a  catch-phrase.  Their  ignorance  of  the  under- 
currents of  diplomacy  excused  their  downright  judgment,  and 
in  truth  the  popular  conception  was  not  far  wrong.  The  treat- 
ment of  the  Stuart  Pretender  displeased  the  people  and  drove 
them  to  express  their  resentment. 

They  also  wanted  to  know  why  all  the  towns  of  Flanders, 
in  which  the  jieurs-de-lis  had  waved,  had  been  taken  for 
nothing.  Again,  it  was  suggested  that  the  King  of  France's 
eldest  daughter  deserved  more  than  three  insignificant  Italian 
duchies  ;  it  had  been  hoped  that  she  would  become  a  queen 
and  wear  a  real  cro^\^l. 

Peace,  none  the  less,  was  proclaimed  on  February  12,  1749, 
with  all  the  customary  pomp. 

A  procession  was  formed  numbering  more  than  eight 
hundred  people.  Among  them  was  Bcrnage,  the  Provost  of 
Proclamation  the  Merchants,  clothed  in  his  magnificent  dress, 
of  Peace.  "  a  robe  of  crimson  and  tan  velvet,"  enriched  with 

golden  embroidery.  The  first  municipal  magistrate  was  ac- 
comjjanied  by  the  sherifls,  the  Public  Prosecutor  and  the 
Attorney-General,  the  Protonotaries  and  the  Receiver-General, 
152 


"AS    STUPID    AS    THE    PEACE" 

the  King-at-Arms,  six  heralds,  a  Master  of  the  Ceremonies, 
Gentlemen  of  the  Chatelet,  and  the  Lieutenant-General  of  the 
Police.  A  fanfare  of  trumpets,  drums,  hautboys,  and  cremonas 
lent  its  aid  to  the  ceremony.  All  these  imposing  officials 
started  from  the  Place  de  Greve  where  a  large  crowd  had  been 
waiting  since  the  morning  to  see  "  this  magnificent  spectacle." 
The  King-at-Arms  especially  attracted  attention ;  he  was 
mounted  on  a  white  horse  and  rode  by  himself  preceded  by  his 
heralds.  In  his  left  hand  he  held  the  King's  ordinance  which 
he  was  to  proclaim,  in  his  right  a  sceptre  ;  his  heralds-at-arms 
carried  wands. 

After  three  flourishes  of  trumpets,  accompanied  by  solemn 
ringing  of  bells,  the  procession  started  on  its  long  itinerary. 
It  stopped  thirteen  times  at  the  principal  open  spaces  of  Paris, 
amongst  others  at  the  Place  du  Carrousel,  the  Grand  Chatelet, 
the  Halles,  opposite  the  Pillory,  the  Place  des  Victoires,  the 
equestrian  statue  of  Henri  IV  on  the  Pont  Neuf ,  the  Place  Saint 
Michel,  and  the  Place  Maubert.  At  each  halt  the  King-at-Arms 
uncovered  and  said  in  a  loud  and  clear  voice  :  "  By  the  King's 
command  !  "  Then  he  put  his  Majesty's  proclamation  into  the 
hands  of  one  of  the  heralds,  saying  :  "  You,  Herald- at- Arms  of 
France,  do  your  duty.'''  The  Proclamation  of  Peace  was  read. 
It  was  preceded  by  three  flourishes  of  trumpets  and  cries  of 
"  Vive  le  Roi  !  "  from  the  Archers,  but  the  spectators  did  not 
take  up  the  cry.  The  crowd  was  curious,  but  not  in  the  least 
enthusiastic.     Louis'  unpopularity  was  just  beginning. 

Principal  Sources.  The  same  as  for  the  preceding  chapter.  The 
description  of  the  Pubhcation  of  Peace  is  taken  from  the  unpubhshed 
official  report  in  the  Registres  du  Bureau  de  la  Ville  (Archives  Nationales, 
H.,  1863,  fols.  59-85). 


153 


CHAPTER  XII 

LOUIS  XV   BECOMES   UNPOPULAR 

1749-1757 

Pamphlets  and  libels.  JMadanic  dc  Pompadour's  position.  Her 
eliaracter,  Licenee  of  the  *jreat  nobles.  Discontent  of  the 
elerfn^-.  Parlenientaires  and  courtiers.  Seditious  books.  The 
risings  of  1750.  Tlie  Eeole  Militairc  and  the  nobility  of  the 
sword.  Death  of  Maurice  de  Saxe.  Birth  of  the  Due  de 
Bourgogne.  High  price  of  bread  in  Paris.  Death  of  Madame 
Henriette.  Illness  of  the  Dauphin.  The  tabouret  granted  to 
Madame  de  Pompadour.  Quarrels  between  the  Clergy  and  the 
Parlement.  The  conversion  of  the  Marquise.  Damiens'  attempt. 
The  Court  in  1757.  The  favourite's  onmijjotence.  Dismissal 
of  Machault  and  the  Comtc  d'Argcnson. 

THE  nation  hoped  that  the  Treaty  of  Aix-la-Chapellc 
would  cause  an  appreciable  reduction  of  taxation, 
but  the  actual  reduction  was  insignificant.  Conse- 
quently there  were  loud  complaints  wlun  it  was  known  that 
Pamphlets  and  the  Royal  expenditure  had  not  diminished,  and 
Lampoons.  that  the  fetes  at  Versailles  and  the  building  o])era- 
tions  at  Choisy,  Bcllevue,  and  Fontainebleau  had  dejjleted  the 
Treasury.  Songs,  verses,  and  satires  were  published  against 
the  King.  One  of  these  pami)hlets  said  :  "  Louis,  if  you  were 
once  the  object  of  our  love,  it  is  because  all  your  vices  were 
not  yet  known  to  us.  In  this  kingdom  depopulated  by  you  and 
given  over  to  the  mountebanks  who  are  reigning  with  you,  all 
Frenchmen  have  come  to  hate  you."  The  King  found  on  the 
floor  of  Versailles  missives  containing  the  following  words :  "  You 
are  going  to  Choisy  :  ivhj/  don't  you  (>o  to  Saint-Denis  ?  "  On  the 
Louvre  and  the  Pont  Neuf  the  following  warning  was  posted  : 

Grains  notre  desespoir  ;  la  noblesse  h.  des  Guises, 
Paris  des  Ravaillac,  Ic  clerg6  des  Clement.* 

*  Bewareof  our  despair  ;  the  nobility  has  its  Cuises,  Paris  its  Kavaillacs, 
and  the  clergy  their  C'lenienls. 
151 


LOUIS  XV  BECOMES  UNPOPULAR 

There  also  appeared  a  brochure  called  "  The  Five  Wounds 
of  France  "—an  attack  on  the  whole  reign — the  Constitution^ 
the  Convulsions  (one  of  its  disastrous  effects),  Law's  System, 
Cardinal  Fleury's  Ministry  and  the  Peace  of  Aix-la-Chapelle. 
There  were  murmurs  also  against  the  reduction  of  the  army. 
Twelve  regiments  had  been  suppressed  and  there  had  been  a 
general  retrenchment  of  the  military  establishment. 

But  Louis'  greatest  unpopularity  arose  from  the  new 
favourite.  It  began  to  be  known  that  all  responsible  positions 
Madame  and  places  under  government  were  at  the  disposal 

de  Pompadour,  of  Madame  dc  Pompadour.  When  the  Naval 
Minister,  the  Comte  de  Maurepas,  was  dismissed,  there  were 
grounds  for  the  belief  that  his  disgrace  was  due  to  the  favourite, 
who  was  said  to  be  thus  avenging  herself  on  him  for  some 
satirical  remarks.  The  Queen,  however,  had  to  be  gracious  to 
the  favourite,  for  she  knew  that  she  had  her  rival  to  thank  when 
her  husband  treated  her  kindly. 

It  must  be  confessed  that  Madame  de  Pompadour  was 
extremely  attractive.  She  was  anxious  to  please  or  at  least  to 
appear  amiable.  Her  skill  was  great ;  never  has  actress  played 
her  part  so  well.  She  had  more  charm  than  real  beauty  ; 
her  round  face,  regular  features,  magnificent  complexion,  superb 
hands  and  arms,  and  intelHgcnt  eyes  would  have  been  of  little 
value  but  for  her  talent  for  putting  people  at  their  ease.  Her 
conversation  was  gay  and  witty,  and  gave  evidence  of  a  taste 
and  a  fund  of  information  much  above  the  average.  None  knew 
better  than  she  how  to  treat  every  one  suitably.  Her  tact  was 
remarkable  and  she  gave  evidence  of  it  by  holding  receptions 
at  her  toilet,  so  as  to  avoid  difficulties  of  etiquette.  She  under- 
stood Louis  perfectly  and  possessed  the  valuable  art  of  being 
able  to  amuse  the  most  unamusable  man  in  the  kingdom.  She 
realised  that  this  Bourbon  was  meant  for  a  private  rather  than 
a  public  life,  so  she  transformed  the  Court  to  suit  his  caprice, 
arranging  a  large  number  of  supper  parties,  journeys,  and 
select  gatherings  to  which  only  intimate  friends  were  invited. 

While  life  went  on  in  this  way  at  Versailles,  the  Clergy  and 
Par lement aires  were  meditating  revolt.  The  former  wished 
to  escape  their  burdens  of  State  and  the  payment  of  the  regular 
taxes  ;    the  latter  objected  to  the  curtailment  of  their  pre- 

155 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

roc[;itiv(.s  and  privikgcb.  Evin  llu'  courtitrs  who  sunoundcd 
Madame  dc  Pompadour  complained  bitterly  as  soon  as  they  left 
her  presence.  Everywhere,  in  the  salons,  in  the  caf6s,  and  on  the 
promenades,  men  complained  aj^ainst  the  Government  \vithout 
caring  if  they  were  heard.  Tlie  police  contented  themselves 
with  espionage  and  arrested  nobody,  as  they  would  have  been 
obliged  to  arrest  everyone,  A  breath  of  revolution  was  passing 
over  the  nation  and  spreading  "  like  gangrene."  IMontesquieu's 
Esprit  des  Lois,  by  its  comparison  of  the  monarchic  with  the 
re{)ubliean  system,  furnished  arguments  to  the  enemies  of  the 
Government. 

Hitherto  religious  quarrels  had  merely  divided  the  Jesuits 
and  Jansenists,  but  about  174-9  the  war  between  scepticism 
Sceptical  and  faith  was  initiated   and  daring  publications 

Books  appear,  began  to  appear.  Diderot  was  sent  to  Vincennes 
for  his  Litter  on  blindness  for  the  use  of  those  zvho  see.  Toussaint's 
book  Les  Moeiirs  was  ordered  to  be  burnt  for  its  impiety.  The 
Parlement  accused  the  author  "  of  establishing  natural  religion 
on  the  ruins  of  all  outward  faith,"  and  of  objecting  to  "  the 
punishments  with  which  human  justice  corrects  theft  and 
murder."  Toussaint  was  the  forerunner  of  Jean-Jacques 
Rousseau  and  Beccaria.  The  Abbe  dc  Pradcs  delivered  a 
lecture  in  the  Sorbonne  in  which  he  compared  the  miracles  of 
Jesus  Christ  to  the  cures  of  ^Esculapius,  and  under  the  influence 
of  the  Jesuits  the  Sorbonne  denounced  him  in  spite  of  having 
previously  received  him.  He  retired  into  exile  at  Berlin,  but 
was  recalled  to  retract  his  essay  publicly. 

In  1750  there  were  risings  in  Paris  caused  by  the  kidna})ping 

of  girls  and  boys.     It  was  said  that  they  were  destined  to  be 

_.  ,    .    shipped  to  America  where  they  were  to  be  em- 

Riotsinl750.       ,         ,   •      .1  j  /       -i-  11     ^^  ., 

ployed  m  the  proposed  new  Canadian  silkworm 

farms.  Some  too  zealous  constables,  actuated  by  greed  of 
gain,  instead  of  taking  foundlings  for  this  purpose,  seized 
workmen's  children,  "  who  were  wandering  in  the  vicinity  of 
their  homes,  or  who  had  been  sent  to  church  or  to  fetch  some- 
thing," and  the  tumult  among  the  people  was  great  in  the 
Faubourg  Saint-Marcel  and  the  Faubourg  Saint-Antoinc.  On 
May  22  the  house  of  a  commissary  in  the  Hue  de  Clichy  was 
wrecked  with  stones  because  a  constable  had  taken  refuge 
156 


LOUIS  XV  BECOMES  UNPOPULAR 

there.  The  same  thing  happened  to  a  restaurant-keeper  in 
the  Croix-Rouge  who  had  given  shelter  to  an  areher.  The 
next  day  the  rising  became  more  serious ;  at  Saint-Roeh 
shots  were  fired,  a  spy  called  Parisien  was  murdered  and  his 
corpse  was  dragged  to  the  house  of  Berryer,  the  Lieutenant- 
General  of  Police,  against  whom  fierce  threats  were  uttered. 
The  culprits  were  placed  on  their  trial,  but  it  was  realized  that 
the  whole  populace  was  implicated.  In  June  of  the  same  year, 
when  the  King  went  from  Versailles  to  Compiegne,  he  travelled 
to  Saint-Denis  without  crossing  Paris,  dreading  seditious  cries, 
and  afterwards  a  road  was  made  which  still  bears  the  name  of 
the  Route  de  la  Revoke. 

Thus  Clergy,  Parlementaires,  courtiers,  writers,  men  of  letters, 
and  men  of  the  people  were  all  discontented  and  believed  them- 
selves to  be  victims  of  injustice,  under  the  influence  of  the  spirit 
of  revolt  which  was  driving  France  towards  revolution.  The 
Marquis  d'Argenson  wrote  these  prophetic  words  in  September 
1751  :  "  Every  class  is  discontented.  Everything  is  in  a  highly 
inflammable  state,  a  rising  may  grow  into  a  revolt  and  a  revolt 
into  a  national  revolution  which  would  result  in  the  election  of 
tribunes  of  the  people  and  electoral  assemblies  of  the  communes. 
Thereby  the  King  and  his  ministers  would  be  deprived  of  their 
excessive  power  to  do  harm."  It  is  true  that  when  d'Argenson 
himself  was  in  power  he  did  not  find  his  authority  excessive. 

To  create  a  diversion  some  popular  schemes  were  set  afloat. 
On  January  1,  1751,  under  the  auspices  of  Madame  de  Pompa- 
Ecf^Ie  Militaire  dour,  the  ficole  Militaire  was  founded,  in  which 
founded.  five  hundred  sons  of  gentlemen  were  to  be  edu- 

cated free,  the  preference  being  given  to  those  whose  fathers 
had  been  killed  on  active  service.  The  building  in  which 
they  were  established  still  exists  and  is  a  fine  specimen  of 
eighteenth-century  architecture  ;  it  is  situated  near  the  In- 
valides  at  the  end  of  the  Champ  de  Mars.  The  public  took 
much  interest  in  it.  "  We  shall  see,"  said  Barbier,  "  two 
neighbouring  houses,  one  the  cradle  and  the  other  the  tomb 
of  soldiers." 

Some  months  earlier  an  edict  was  passed  establishing  a  new 
nobility,  to  which  not  only  those  who  reached  the  rank  of 
general,  but  those  also  who  had  become  captains  and  whose 

157 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

fathers  and  ji^randfathcrs  had  served  in  the  same  capacity — 
patre  ct  avo  militibus  — acquired  a  prescriptive  right.  The  nobihty 
thus  created  did  not  owe  its  immunities  to  the  power  of  money, 
hke  the  court  ofTicials,  but  to  personal  service,  often  of  a 
distinguished  nature.  These  just  favours  were  some  conso- 
lation to  the  soldiers  now  in  mourning  for  the  victor  of  Fontenoy, 
who  had  just  died,  to  the  deep  regret  of  his  companions  in  arms. 
Tliey  felt  that  one  century  could  not  produce  two  such  heroes. 
He  died  at  the  Chateau  of  Chambord,  which  Louis  had  given  him 
for  life  as  a  reward  for  his  services.  lie  led  a  sumptuous  life 
there  and  had  made  it  a  second  Versailles. 

Maurice  de  Saxe  died  bravely.  He  said  to  S^nac,  the  court 
physician,  sent  to  him  by  the  King  :  "  My  friend,  you  come  too 
Death  of  late.     This   is   the   end   of  a   beautiful  dream  !  " 

Maurice  He  was  a  Protestant.     The  Queen  said  of  him  : 

de  Saxe.  "  It  is  a  pity  we  cannot  say  a  Dc  Profundis  for  a 

man  who  was  the  cause  of  so  many  Te  Dcums  !  "  His  body  was 
taken  to  a  Lutheran  chapel  at  Strasburg,  and  later  Pigalle 
erected  a  moninnent  to  the  great  captain  whose  glory  was  not 
surpassed  even  by  that  of  Turenne.  His  face  was  bright  and 
intelligent.  La  Tour  has  immortalized  him  in  a  wonderful 
pastel  at  the  Louvre,  of  which  there  is  a  beautiful  replica  in  the 
Dresden  Museum.  Maurice  honoured  the  House  of  Saxony  as 
the  natural  son  of  the  Elector,  Augustus  II,  King  of  Poland, 
and  he  honoured  France  also  by  his  brilliant  services  to  her. 

A  gloom  Avas  cast  over  the  Court  in  1751  by  this  sad 
event  and  by  the  censures  passed  upon  the  monarch  from  the 
vantage-ground  of  the  jniljiit.  P6re  GrifTet,  who  preached 
the  Lent  sermons  at  Versailles,  alluded  to  the  King's  conduct, 
and  inveighed  against  worldliness  even  in  the  presence  of 
Louis  himself — an  attentive  listener.  The  Jesuits,  and  with 
them  the  Queen  and  the  Dauphin,  hoped  that  the  universal 
jubilee  festival  would  bring  Louis  back  to  religion.  But  Louis 
perfDrmed  his  Lenten  devotions  very  carelessly.  All  the  while, 
ballets  and  comedies  were  being  rehearsed  behind  the  scenes  at 
the  Marquise's  theatre,  in  preparation  for  private  performances. 
At  the  sermons  Louis  was  merely  amused,  treating  them  as 
though  the  words  of  truth  could  not  apply  to  him  and  were 
addressed  only  to  his  Court. 
158 


LOUIS  XV  BECOMES  UNPOPULAR 

On  September  12  the  Dauphin's  first  son,  the  Due  de 
Bourgogne  was  born,  but  there  were  no  manifestations  of  pubUc 
Birth  of  the  rejoicing.  The  official  celebrations  aroused  no 
Due  enthusiasm  ;    bread  stood  at  twopence  a  pound  ; 

de  Bourgogne.  the  high  prices  and  the  poverty  increased  ; 
taxation  became  heavier  ;  the  complaints  of  the  clergy  and 
the  Parlement  troubled  the  country  ;  and  honest  folk  had  no 
heart  for  merrymaking.  The  prevailing  listlessness  was  so 
great  that  when  the  Due  de  Gesvres,  Governor  of  Paris,  caused 
money  to  be  thrown  to  the  people,  there  were  not  ten  persons 
present  to  pick  it  up.  Artisans  and  merchants  had  some  cause 
to  be  discontented.  The  Dauphin  and  Dauphine  on  November 
26  went  to  a  Te  Deum  at  Notre  Dame  and  their  reception  was 
unfavourable.  More  than  two  thousand  women  assembled 
near  the  Pont  de  la  Tournelle  and  cried  to  them  :  "  Give  us 
bread  !  We  are  dying  of  hunger  !  "  The  Dauphin  ordered  the 
distribution  of  some  small  coins,  but  the  women  only  cried  the 
louder  :  "  Monseigneur,  we  do  not  want  your  money  !  We 
want  bread.  We  love  you  ;  send  away  this  Pompadour  who 
is  governing  and  ruining  the  kingdom.  If  we  only  had  her 
here  there  would  soon  be  nothing  left  of  her  to  serve  as  relics." 
On  their  return  Louis  asked  the  Dauphine  if  she  had  not  received 
many  benedictions. 

"  Benedictions  !  "  she  answered,  sobbing,  "they  asked  me  for 
bread  !  " 

On  the  death  of  Madame  Henriette  on  February  10,  1752, 
a  terrible  blow  for  Louis,  the  people  cried  out  again  :  "  See 
Death  of  what  happens  when  you  offend  God  and  make 

Madame  your  subjects  unhappy  !     God  takes  away  your 

Henriette.  beloved  daughter."     Louis  was  tortured  with  grief 

and  remorse  ;  the  Queen's  party  hoped  to  be  victorious  this 
time.  But,  after  two  days,  it  was  apparent  that  there  was  to 
be  no  change,  and  the  Marquise  was  more  powerful  than  ever. 

Some  months  later  the  Court  was  again  alarmed ;  the 
Dauphin  had  small-pox  and  seemed  to  be  in  danger.  Louis 
Illness  of  did  not  enter  the  sick-room.     The  Queen  was  less 

the  Dauphin,  timid  and  went  to  see  her  son.  The  Dauphine 
took  her  place  at  her  husband's  bedside  and  ordered  those  who 
assisted  her  to  forgo  all  ceremony  and  not  to  consider  her.     "  I 

159 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

am  no  loiifjer  Dauj)hinc,"  said  Maric-Joscphc,  "  I  am  only  a 
nurse."  Pousse,  a  doctor  \vlio  had  been  summoned  from  I'aris, 
knew  nothing  of  the  Court  or  its  etiquette.  He  saw  the  princess 
simply  dressed,  attending  to  the  various  requirements  of  the 
siek-room,  and  said  one  day  :  "  Do  exactly  what  this  little 
woman  tells  you,  for  she  understands  wonderfully  what  is 
wanted."  And  turning  to  Marie- Jos^phe  he  added,  "  What  is 
your  name,  my  child  ?  " 

When  the  Dauphin  began  to  mend  the  King  was  compelled 
by  custom  to  show  himself  to  the  Parisians  and  to  go  with  his 
family  to  Notre  Dame  for  a  thanksgiving  service.  The  price  of 
bread  had  been  lowered  so  that  his  Majesty  should  be  better 
received.  Nevertheless,  a  poor  wretch  climbed  on  to  the 
Queen's  carriage,  near  the  Point-du-Jour,  to  show  her  some 
black  bread,  crying  :  "  There,  Madame,  that  is  what  wc  have 
to  pay  three  halfpence  a  pound  for." 

Louis  changed  horses  at  the  Petit  Cours,  where  he  was 
cheered  by  some  bystanders,  but  in  Paris  nobody  cried  Vive 
le  Roi ! 

In  spite  of  these  sentiments  Louis  chose  this  very  time  to 
complete  Madame  de  Pompadour's  satisfaction  by  according 
Madame  de  ^^^^  the  tabouret  and  the  j)rivileges  of  a  duchess. 
Pompadour's  The  favourite  was  presented,  with  great  ceremony 
Honours.  by  the  Dowager  Princess  de  Conti,  and  thus  fresh 

jealousy  was  aroused,  since  for  the  future  she  would  be  entitled 
to  the  privileges  of  the  wives  of  dukes  and  peers.  The  tabouret 
was  the  right  to  sit  down  at  the  Grand  Convert  and  in  all  Court 
assemblies,  and  was  the  highest  honour  at  Court.  It  was  a 
dignity  to  which  no  bourgeoise  had  ever  yet  attained.  The 
Dauphin  greatly  resented  this  inopportune  favour  and  the 
event  caused  what  was  then  called  a  "  rufTling  of  feathers," 
at  Court.  Sharp  words  passed  between  father  and  son.  The 
Dauphin  asked  permission  to  dine  with  the  Archbishop  of  Paris, 
and  received  the  following  answer  from  the  King  :  "  My  son, 
you  ought  to  wish  mc  to  live  long,  for  you  arc  not  yet  able  to 
govern  yourself."  The  Dauphin,  who  was  deeply  sensible  of 
his  duly,  could  not  completely  ignore  the  Marquise,  1)ut  towards 
his  father  he  behaved  for  the  future  with  only  an  outward 
show  of  respect. 
160 


LOUIS  XV  BECOMES  UNPOPULAR 

The  antagonism  between  the  Clergy  and  the  Parliament  in- 
creased. Bouettin,  Cure  of  Saint-Etienne-du-Mont,  refused  the 
Friction  ^^^*  sacraments  to  a  Jansenist  priest  named  Le 

between  Mere,  because  he  had  not  a  confessional  certificate 

Clergy  and  signed  by  an  ecclesiastic  who  had  submitted  to 
Parlement.  ^-j^g  g^jj  Unigenitus.  There  was  a  general 
disturbance  in  Paris  ;  ten  thousand  people  followed  Le  M^re 
to  the  grave.  The  Parliament  did  not  dare  to  attack  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Paris,  Christophe  de  Beaumont,  who  was  responsible 
for  the  scandal,  "  but  they  issued  a  warrant  of  arrest  against 
the  Cure  of  Saint-Etienne."  The  King  interfered  and  quashed 
the  warrant  as  derogating  from  his  authority. 

The  trouble  spread  to  the  provinces  and  almost  brought 
about  a  revival  of  the  League.  The  Parliament  addressed  a  re- 
monstrance to  the  King  like  "  the  harangues  which  the  Romans 
made  from  the  tribune."  The  magistrates  pointed  out  the  dis- 
orders which  the  Constitution  had  caused  in  Church  and  State, 
and  they  reminded  the  King  that  Louis  XIV  had  only  allowed 
the  Bull  to  be  registered  with  the  addition  of  certain  amend- 
ments safeguarding  Galilean  liberties.  "  The  impious,"  they 
said,  "  have  made  use  of  the  dissensions  which  have  arisen 
between  ministers  of  religion  to  attack  religion  itself.  The 
proud  philosopher,  madly  jealous  of  the  Divinity  Himself, 
and  seeing  with  regret  the  homage  which  is  rendered  to  Him, 
thinks  this  a  favourable  moment  to  introduce  a  monstrous 
system  of  unbelief."  This  was  an  allusion  to  the  first  volumes 
of  the  Encyclopcedia.  "  It  has  been  reserved  for  our  generation," 
they  continued,  "  to  hear  without  comment  in  the  first  Uni- 
versity of  Christendom  a  public  lecture  (that  of  the  Abbe  de 
Prades),  in  which  all  the  false  principles  of  unbelief  were  sys- 
tematically expounded." 

The  Chief  President,  in  a  private  interview,  said  to  Louis, 
"  Sire,  you  are  being  deceived  ;  it  is  time  you  realized  it. 
Schism  needs  small  forces  to  dethrone  kings,  whereas  it  takes 
great  armies  to  defend  them."  A  commission  of  prelates  and 
Parlementaires  was  appointed  to  discuss  the  question,  but  it 
never  sat.  The  troubles  increased,  the  Ultramontanes  continued 
to  refuse  the  sacraments,  and  the  Jansenists  to  protest.  They 
disputed  over  opinions  and  doctrines.     Contradictory  decrees 

L  161 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

were  issued  at  the  same  moment  by  the  Parliament  on  one  side 
and  the  King's  Council  on  the  other,  and  thus  ''  two  practically 
equal  powers  crossed  one  another  in  their  operations."  The 
anarchy  was  complete.  "  Everything  is  falling  in  turn,"  wrote 
d'Argenson.  "  Meanwhile  opinion  gains  ground,  rises  and 
spreads  until  it  may  cause  a  national  revolution." 

The  I'arliament  sent  in  remonstrances  in  quick  succession, 
but  the  King  persisted  in  his  refusal  to  listen.  Matters  were  at 
Struggle  their  worst  in  May  1753,  and  in  the  night  of  May  8 

between  musketeers  went  from  door  to  door  to  present 

King  and  the    presidents    and    councillors   with    Icttrcs    de 

Parliament.  cachet  ordering  them  to  go  to  the  residences  which 
had  been  assigned  to  them.  The  Grand  Chambre  was  excepted 
from  this  punishment,  but  it  desired  to  share  the  fate  of  the 
rest,  and  so  was  sent  to  Pontoise  as  in  1720.  The  Grandes 
Rcmo7itrances,  which  had  fired  the  powder,  were  published  on 
May  23,  although  they  had  not  been  oflicially  read.  These 
Grandes  Remonirances  were  a  political  and  religious  manifesto 
of  the  utmost  significance,  for  they  revealed  the  temper  of  the 
Parlementaires  and  already  foreshadowed  the  revolution  to 
come.  They  censured  the  clergy,  showing  how  the  Church 
had  encroached  on  the  temporal  authorities.  The  following 
was  among  the  phrases  used  :  "  The  authority  of  the  successors 
of  the  Apostles  is  a  ministry,  not  an  empire."  TJie  Throne  was 
censured  :  "  If  subjects,"  said  the  Parliament,  "owe  obedience 
to  kings,  kings  on  their  side  owe  obedience  to  law."  The 
conclusion  was  particularly  stirring  :  "  No,  Sire,  we  will  not 
allow  the  triumph  of  a  schism  fatal  to  religion  and  capable  of 
striking  a  deadly  blow  at  your  Sovereignty  and  the  State,  In 
vain  do  they  try  to  compel  us  to  become  powerless  spectators 
of  the  misfortunes  of  our  country  and  thus  incur  responsi- 
bility for  its  woes.  If  those  who  wrongfully  use  your  name 
are  trying  to  reduce  us  to  the  cruel  alternatives  of  either  suffering 
disgrace  from  your  Majesty,  or  betraying  those  duties  that  an 
inviolable  zeal  for  your  service  imposes  iij)on  us,  let  them 
know  that  that  zeal  is  boundless,  and  that  we  are  resolved  to 
remain  faithful  to  you,  even  though  we  become  the  victims  of 
our  own  fidelity." 

All  the  provincial  parliaments  joined  with  the  Parliament 
162 


LOUIS  XV  BECOMES  UNPOPULAR 

of  Paris ;  there  were  even  suggestions  of  a  Convocation  of  the 
States-General. 

There  were  numerous  attempts  at  repression,  but  they  only 
inflamed  the  resistance.  The  one  dominant  idea  was  that  the 
nation  is  above  the  monarch,  as  the  Church  is  above  the  Pope* 
The  Ultramontane  Party  seized  upon  this  as  a  weapon.  The 
Bishop  of  Montauban  published  a  charge  in  which  he  recalled 
the  fate  of  Charles  I,  and  insinuated  that  the  Parliament  of  Paris, 
like  that  of  London,  was  capable  of  condemning  the  Sovereign  to 
the  scajfold. 

We  have  here  an  example  of  courageous  championship  of 
the  liberties  of  ancient  France,  when  the  highest  institution  of 
Unrest  in  the  kingdom,  an  institution  which  was  independent 

Paris.  of  the  State  both  in  its  origin  and  in  its  functions, 

addressed  such  reprimands  to  the  Government.  But  it  must 
be  admitted  that  the  effect  was  small.  Under  the  name  of  the 
Chambre  Royale  a  sham  Parliament  was  created,  a  weak  antici- 
pation of  the  Maupeou  Parliament.  But  the  Chatelet,  the  last 
remnant  of  the  judicature,  a  court  of  first  instance,  refused  to 
recognize  it.  Whereupon  the  Government  wished  to  suppress 
the  Chatelet.  "  I  learn,"  writes  d'Argenson  on  this  subject 
in  December  1753,  "  from  one  of  the  chief  magistrates  of  Paris, 
that  the  Parisians  are  in  a  state  of  subdued  excitement.  Mili- 
tary precautions  are  being  taken,  the  watch  is  doubled  each  day, 
and  patrols  of  Swiss  and  French  guards  are  to  be  seen  in  the 
streets.  The  same  magistrate  tells  me  that  he  believes,  if  the 
Chatelet  is  suppressed,  the  shops  will  be  shut,  barricades  will 
be  constructed,  and  thus  the  revolution  will  begin." 

The  Ultramontane  reaction  became  very  violent  in  1754. 
Christophe  de  Beaumont,  Archbishop  of  Paris,  deprived  of 
their  authority  all  confessors  who  did  not  show  sufficient  zeal 
for  the  Constitution.  Pere  Laugier,  a  Jesuit,  preached  before 
the  King  against  the  Parliament,  and  concluded  "  in  the  style 
of  an  Attorney-General,"  urging  the  abolition  of  this  institution 
as  impious  and  destructive  of  religion.  The  Protestants  of  the 
Cevennes  were  threatened  with  new  dragonnades.  In  March 
1754,  five  thousand  Huguenots  of  Nimes  left  the  Kingdom. 

This   quarrel    between  the   Jansenists   and  Ultramontanes 
*  d'Argenson. 

163 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

was  the  preface  of  the  Cahicrs  of  tlic  States-General  of  1789. 
The  fever  of  opposition  in  1754  is  a  forecast  of  the  Revolution. 
And  if  the  storm  cloud  did  not  burst,  it  was  not,  as  Rousseau 
says,  because  of  the  pul)lieation  of  his  Lctire  sur  (or  rather 
against)  Ui  musiquc  franQiiisc.  .  .  .  "  When  you  read,"  he  says, 
"  that  this  pamphlet  perhaps  prevented  a  revolution  in  the 
State,  you  will  think  you  are  dreaming  !  "  It  was  still  less, 
as  the  Due  de  Luynes  would  have  us  believe,  because  of  the 
arrival  in  Paris  of  a  troop  of  Opera  Buffa,  and  of  the  actor 
Manelli,  which  set  the  partisans  of  French  and  Italian  music  at 
loggerheads.  The  real  reason  was  that  the  Court  realized  the 
danger  and  changed  its  policy.  In  June  it  caused  a  report  to  be 
spread  of  the  recall  of  the  exiled  Parlemcntaires  and  the  expul- 
sion of  the  Jesuits.  Only  the  first  was  true.  On  August  30 
the  Chamhre  Royale  was  suppressed  by  letters  patent,  and  on 
September  4  the  Parliament  returned  to  favour  almost  at  the 
Birth  of  very  time   that  the   Due   de   Berry,   the   future 

Louis  XVI.  Louis  XVI,  was  born  on  August  23.  It  was  said 
that  these  measures  were  the  work  of  the  Marquise  ;  they  were 
designed  to  calm  the  hatred  which  pursued  her  and  the  insults 
with  which  she  was  loaded. 

Magistrates  were  muzzled  by  the  law  of  silence.  Louis  XV 
ordered  them  not  to  revive  religious  quarrels  and  to  maintain 
jniblic  peace.  This  law  hardly  pleased  the  clergy,  and  especially 
the  bishops,  who  asserted  that  they  had  received  their  mission 
from  Our  Lord  "  to  preach  His  Name  on  the  housetops,"  and  to 
be  in  subjection  to  God  and  not  to  men.  There  were  fresh 
refusals  of  the  sacraments  at  Boulogne  and  at  Paris.  The 
magistrates  asked  for  exi)lanations  from  the  Arch])ishop,  but 
he  did  not  listen  to  them,  so  they  complained  to  the  King.  Louis, 
Archbishop  of  intent  upon  keeping  the  peace,  exiled  Monseigneur 
Paris  exiled.  de  Beaumont  to  Conflans  on  December  3.  The 
reconciliation  between  the  King  and  Parliament  was  complete, 
but  the  Archbishop  of  Paris  resisted  and  continued  the  war. 
He  was  next  ordered  to  go  to  Lagny,  a  little  further  from  liis 
faithful  followers.  Then  the  Parliament  declared,  in  March 
1755,  that  the  Bull  was  not  a  rule  of  faith  and  forbade  all  clergy 
to  attribute  this  character  to  it.  The  lazv  of  silence  was  scarcely 
observed  at  all,  and  the  Constitution  was  "  nationally  annihi- 
164 


LOUIS  XV  BECOMES  UNPOPULAR 

latcd."  *  At  this  pass  the  King,  foreseeing  war,  annulled  the 
decree  so  as  to  persuade  the  Assembly  of  the  Clergy  to  vote  him 
several  millions.  There  was  a  tacit  agreement  between  the 
magistrates  and  the  Monarch,  and  as  soon  as  he  had  secured  the 
freewill  offering  {don  gratuit),  as  the  ecclesiastical  tax  was  called, 
Louis  met  all  the  requests  of  the  bishops  with  a  refusal.  This  was 
followed  by  a  general  relaxation  of  stringency.  The  Encyclo- 
pcedia  was  allowed  to  reappear ;  tolerance  was  shown  to  the 
Protestants  and  they  were  allowed  to  build  places  of  worship. 
But  the  Archbishop  of  Paris,  supported  by  the  Jesuits,  would 
not  own  defeat  and,  finally,  at  the  lit  de  justice  held  on  December 
13,  1756,  they  persuaded  the  King  to  order  the  Constitution  to 
be  respected  as  a  decision  of  the  Church.  The  Archbishop's 
exile  was  made  less  strict  and  he  returned  in  October  1757. 
Once  more  the  omnipotent  favourite  was  the  cause  of  this 
abrupt  change  of  policy  ;  she  had  special  reasons  for  supposing 
that  her  reign  would  one  day  end,  for  Louis  was  now  interested 
in  her  merely  from  force  of  habit,  and  because  no  superior 
attraction  had  yet  arisen.  Her  enemies  lost  no  chance  of 
intriguing  against  her  and  of  putting  temptation  in  the  King's 
way,  and  she,  playing  a  dangerous  game,  was  prepared  to  use 
any  means  to  serve  her  ends. 

The  memory  of  Madame  de  Maintenon  haunted  her,  so  she 
made  preparations  to  secure  her  retreat  with  feminine  adroitness, 
Madame  de  combining  the  trickery  of  a  Tartuff e  with  the 
Pompadour's  craft  of  a  Dorimene.  She  thought  of  becoming 
Conversion.  converted,  and  did  not  hesitate  to  apply  to  a  Jesuit, 
Pere  de  Sacy,  an  innocent  accomplice  and  a  very  saintly  man, 
to  unravel  the  tangled  skein  of  her  position.  This  took  place 
at  the  end  of  1755.  The  Marquise  at  that  time  gave  evidence 
of  the  most  fervent  piety  ;  she  went  every  day  to  Mass,  fasted 
on  Friday,  and  held  receptions  no  longer  at  her  toilet,  but  at 
her  embroidery  frame.  It  was  even  thought  that  she  would 
cease  to  use  rouge.  Suddenly,  on  February  8,  1756,  to  the  sur- 
prise of  everyone,  she  was  appointed  Lady  of  the  Palace  to  the 
Queen.  A  letter  from  the  King  informed  Marie  Leszczynska 
of  the  appointment  and  she  answered  :  "  Sire,  I  have  a  King  in 
Heaven  Who  gives  me  the  strength  to  endure  my  troubles,  and 

*  d'Argenson. 

165 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

a  King  on  earth  ^vhom  I  shall  always  obey."  The  next  day 
Madame  de  Pomjiadour  performed  her  new  duties  "  with  an  easy 
air.  as  though  she  had  never  done  anything  else." 

Such  was  the  reward  of  her  return  to  the  faith— her  "  quarter 
conversion."  "  Extremists  said  already,"  writes  the  Due  de 
Croy,  "  that  after  the  death  of  the  Duchesse  de  Luynes,  the 
post  of  Superintendent  of  the  Queen  would  be  revived  in  favour 
of  Madame  de  Pompadour ;  that  her  great  influence  would 
continue  and  even  increase,  if  it  were  possible,  and  that  she  would 
equal  or  surpass  Madame  de  Maintcnon,  wliom  for  some  time 
she  had  been  carefully  imitating." 

The  Marquise  certainly  owed  some  return  to  the  Jesuits. 
She  had  made  Fere  de  Sacy  believe  that  her  example  would  bring 
back  the  King  to  his  religious  practices  ;  she  conjured  up  a 
vision  of  a  devout  Court  firmly  supporting  the  Church,  and  she 
persuaded  Louis  to  insist  upon  the  acceptance  of  the  Constitu- 
tion. Later,  when  she  returned  to  her  old  life,  she  helped  to 
complete  the  ruin  of  the  clergy  who  had  procured  her  the  posi- 
tion of  Lady  of  the  Palace  : 

La  maison  est  u  moi  ;  c'cst  k  vous  d'cn  sortir.* 

Once  more  the  course  of  justice  was  suspended  ;  many 
pnrlemcntaircs  sent  in  their  resignations,  and  there  were  general 
Damiens'  feigns    of    discontent.     On   January    5,    1757,    a 

attempt.  fanatic  named  Damiens  tried  to  assassinate  the 

King  as  he  was  leaving  Versailles  for  the  Trianon.  Immediately 
all  was  forgotten  in  anxiety  for  the  King's  health.  The  suspense, 
however,  was  not  long,  as  the  wound  was  not  serious,  and  in 
spite  of  fears  of  a  fresh  attempt,  it  was  soon  ascertained  that 
Damiens  had  no  accomplice. 

The  citizens  of  Paris  had  been  as  much  distressed  as  everyone 
else  when  the  King  was  ill  at  Metz  in  1744,  but  now  they 
remained  indifferent,  and  nursed  their  resentment  at  the  exile 
of  the  Parliament. 

The  attitude  of  the  Court  at  this  critical  moment  is  interesting. 
The  King  behaved  well,  and  when  the  surgeons  told  him  of  his 
safety,  he  showed  no  more  pleasure  at  being  out  of  danger  than  he 
had  showed  fear  when  he  thought  he  was  lost.     He  said  to  one 

*  The  house  is  mine  ;  it  is  for  you  to  go. 
166 


LOUIS  XV  BECOMES  UNPOPULAR 

of  his  courtiers :  "  The  wound  was  not  very  deep,  yet  it  went 
to  the  heart."  His  conduct  to  the  Dauphin  was  moving  ;  he 
spoke  long  and  affectionately  to  him,  expressed  his  regret  at  the 
scandal  he  had  caused,  and  recommended  his  son  to  study  the 
happiness  of  his  people.  He  wanted  to  confess.  His  titular 
confessor,  Pere  Desmarest,  who  certainly  had  not  a  very  heavy 
duty  to  perform,  was  at  Paris  ;  but  the  Abbe  Soldini  was  brought 
to  him  and  remained  "  three-quarters  of  an  hour  with  the  King, 
behind  his  curtains." 

All  eyes  were  turned  on  the  Dauphin  as  the  rising  sun  ; 
on  the  5th  he  was  treated  as  King,  and  that  evening  he  presided 
at  the  Council  of  Ministers.  Argenson  says  he  showed  intelli- 
gence, dignity,  and  eloquence  beyond  all  expectation.  Men 
must  be  put  to  the  test  before  they  can  show  their  true  value. 

The  Queen  and  Mesdames  thought  only  of  the  King's  con- 
version "  which  would  have  given  them  more  authority  "  *  and 
would  have  dismissed  the  Marquise  for  ever.  The  Comtesse 
de  Toulouse,  on  behalf  of  the  King's  children,  approached 
Bernis.  She  asked  him  to  advise  the  Marquise  to  retire,  adding 
that  this  retreat  would  not  diminish  the  confidence  and  friend- 
ship of  the  King,  and  would  assure  her  of  Monsieur  le  Dauphin's 
protection  for  the  rest  of  her  life,  besides  covering  her  with  glory 
in  the  eyes  of  all  Europe. 

Madame  de  Pompadour's  future  was  the  topic  of  all  con- 
versation and,  if  Bernis  is  to  be  trusted,  people  were  more 
Position  of  interested  in  what  was  likely  to  become  of  the 
Madame  de  favourite  than  in  the  accident  to  the  King.  All 
Pompadour.  means  of  access  were  closed  to  her  ;  the  royal 
family  were  sufficient  to  fill  the  Chamber.  The  friends  of  the 
Marquise  were  no  longer  numerous.  "  At  Court,  disgrace 
causes  courtiers  to  fly  away,  like  pigeons  from  a  cot  at  the  entry 
of  a  sparrow-hawk."  *  Most  of  the  people  who  went  to  see  hel 
went  "  to  see  what  appearance  she  was  presenting,  under  pre- 
tence of  interest."  f  However,  some  were  faithful  to  her. 
Bernis  and  the  Prince  de  Soubise  managed  to  overcome  the 
intrigues  of  the  Comte  d' Argenson,  Minister  of  War,  and  the 
indecision  of  Machault,  Minister  of  Marine,  and  saw  that  Madame 
de  Pompadour  was  allowed  to  wait  at  Versailles  in  safety. 
*  Cheverny.  f  Du  Hausset. 

167 


TIIK    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

For  t k  veil  days  she  was  left  in  uncertainty  as  to  her  ])osition, 
as  she  had  no  message  from  the  King  "  who  was  under  the  eyes 
of  all  his  Court  and  all  his  family.''  At  last,  on  January  16, 
the  courtiers  noticed  a  change  in  Louis.  Instead  oi  looking 
sad  and  severe  he  now  appeared  calm  and  bright.  A  smile 
passed  over  his  lips  and  ha])pincss  brightened  his  handsome 
face.  Thus  his  intimates  knew  that  he  had  visited  Madame  de 
Pompadour.  "  They  had  tried  indirectly,"  says  Cheverny,  "  to 
prove  to  him  that  people  were  ill  disposed  towards  him  and  that 
this  was  probably  a  conspiracy.  .  .  .  I\Iadame  de  Pompadour 
took  a  difTerent  view  ;  she  told  him  that  Damiens  vas  only  a 
dangerous  madman,  and  that  it  was  not  a  conspiracy.  She  spoke 
of  the  general  alarm  which  had  spread  through  the  kingdom, 
how  all  the  Parliaments  had  been  horrified  at  the  deed.  She 
said  that  this  accident  would  protect  him  from  anything  of  the 
kind  lia})pening  again.  .  .  .  Thus  she  poured  so  much  balm 
on  his  wounds  that  that  evening  he  dressed,  and  the  next  day 
he  reappeared  at  the  hunt  and  at  the  suppers  in  the  Petits 
Appartcmcnts.  The  pious  cabal  was  defeated  and  the  Marquise 
became  more  powerful  than  ever. 

She  took  advantage  of  this  omnipotence  to  secure  the  dis- 
grace of  Machault  and  the  Comte  d'Argenson,  against  whom  she 
The  favourite  ^^^^  ^  personal  grievance  ;  she  also  resented  their 
restored  to  attitude     in     the    Damiens     alTair.     These     two 

power.  ministers,  and  especially  Machault,  were  men  of 

considerable  experience,  and  their  disgrace  took  place  at  a 
time  when  war  was  imminent  and  their  services  would  have 
been  inestimable.  They  were  sacrificed  in  spite  of  the  King 
and  in  spite  of  public  opinion.  Cheverny,  in  his  Mhnoircs, 
says  of  them  :  "  Monsieur  le  Comte  d'Argenson  was  Minister  for 
War.  Naturally  gifted,  with  a  handsome  appearance,  a  pro- 
digious memory,  and  the  refined  eloquence  of  a  courtier,  and 
believing  his  position  secure,  he  originated  vast  intrigues 
in  the  hope  of  persuading  Louis  to  make  him  Prime  Minister. 
Monsieur  de  Maeiiault's  plans  were  deeper  and  better  carried 
out." 

Louis,  on  this  occasion,  showed  his  habitual  dissimulation. 
He  treated  the  two  victims  "  equally  well  both  j)ubliely  and 
privately."  Bernis  remembers  that  two  days  before  his  disgrace 
1C8 


LOUIS  XV  BECOMES  UNPOPULAR 

d'Argcnson  said  to  him  :  "  You  are  reticent,  but  you  know  quite 
well  that  Machault  is  packing  up  ;  the  Marquise  wishes  to  see 
no  more  of  him.     It  is  a  question  of  a  week  at  most." 

Machault  and  d'Argenson  were  exiled  together  on  February  1, 
1757.  Neither  of  them  had  suspected  his  own  disgrace.  The 
Dismissal  of  wording  of  the  letters  that  the  King  had  sent  to 
Machault  and  them  was  very  dilTerent.  It  is  evident  that 
d'Argenson.  Louis  was  distressed  at  having  to  obey  the 
Marquise  when  he  wrote  to  Machault :  "  Although  I  am  per- 
suaded of  the  probity  and  uprightness  of  your  intentions, 
present  circumstances  force  mc  to  ask  you  to  return  my  Seals 
and  to  resign  the  office  of  Secretary  of  State  for  the  Navy.  Be 
always  assured  of  my  protection  and  my  friendship."''  A  pension 
of  20,000  livres  was  granted  to  Machault.  The  note  which 
d'Argenson  received  was  cold  and  imperative :  "  Monsieur 
d'Argenson,  as  your  service  is  no  longer  necessary  to  me,  I  order 
you  to  send  in  your  resignation  of  the  office  of  Secretary  of  State 
for  War,  and  your  other  duties,  and  to  withdraw  to  your  estate 
of  Ormes." 

Bernis,  who  was  devoted  to  Madame  de  Pompadour,  owns 
that  this  was  a  fatal  error.  The  Marquis  de  Paulmy,  who 
succeeded  his  uncle  d'Argenson,  and  Moras,  who  replaced 
Machault,  brought  "  confusion  and  disorder  into  their  respective 
departments."  The  Marquise,  "  with  her  childlike  confidence," 
thought  that  with  her  help  all  would  be  well.  .  .  .  Neither 
Bernis  nor  the  new  allies  had  any  illusions  on  that  subject. 
Disasters  were  hanging  over  France  which  would  increase  the 
already  considerable  unpopularity  of  Louis  and  his  favourite. 
Execution  of  As  for  Damiens,  he  was  condemned  to  be  drawn 
Damiens.  and  quartered.     We  will  not  here  give  the  details 

of  this  terrible  execution.  It  will  suffice  to  say  that,  according 
to  Barbier,  the  criminal  remained  "  more  than  half  an  hour 
seated  in  front  of  the  scaffold  looking  on  calmly  whilst  every- 
thing was  prepared  for  his  punishment."  They  took  an  hour 
and  a  quarter  to  kill  him.  "  Many  people,"  says  Madame  du 
Hausset,  "  and  even  women,  had  the  barbarous  curiosity  to 

watch  this   execution,   among  other  Madame   P ,   a  very 

beautiful  woman,  wife  of  a  farmer-general  of  taxes.  Some  one 
told  the  King  of  this  and  he  put  his  two  hands  over  his  eyes, 

169 


T  II  E    K  I  G  II  T  K  E  N  T  II    C  E  N  T  U  R  Y 

saying  :    "  Oh  !   ifir  fiorrlblc  rcoman  !  "     They  say  that  slu-  and 
otJicrs  had  intended  to  flatter  the  King  by  their  action. 

Principal  Sources.  M^moires  or  Journaux  of  the  Marquis  (rArj^cn- 
son.  Hiirhicr.  llic  Due  do  Luyiics,  Dufort  dc  C'lu'vi'my,  Presidrnt  lU'-iiaiilt, 
IMadanie  du  Ilaussct,  Bcrnis  ;  CorrcspoinUmce  of  Madame  de  Pompadour 
(Malassis)  ;  Journal  historiqiie  ou  Pastes  du  regno  de  Louis  XV,  1766  ; 
Vie  privi'e  de  Louis  XV  (Moufle  d'Anf^crvillc)  ;  Glasson,  Ilistoire  du 
Parlcmcnt  de  Paris,  2  vols.,  1901  ;  Roequain,  L'dsprit  rholutionnaire 
avant  la  Revolution,  1878  ;  Auherlin,  Uisprit  public  au  XV I  lie  siiele, 
.*}rd  edition,  1889  ;  E.  &  J.  de  Goncourl,  Madame  de  Pompadour,  new 
edition,  1899  ;  P.  de  Nolhae,  Lofiis  XV  and  Madame  de  Pompadour,  1904  ; 
C.  Strjicnski,  La  Merc  des  trois  dcrnicrs  Bourbons,  1902. 


170 


CHAPTER  XIII 

THE  SEVEN  YEARS  WAR  ^ 
1756-1763 

Rivalry  between  France  and  England.  Dupleix  in  India. 
Events  in  America.  Capture  of  Port  Mahon.  War  breaks  out. 
The  proposals  of  Maria  Theresa.  Frederick's  attitude.  Invasion 
of  Saxony.  Marshal  d'Estrees.  Richelieu.  Madame  de  Pom- 
padour obtains  the  command  of  the  French  forces  for  the  Prince 
de  Soubise.  The  Comte  de  Clermont.  The  English  plunder  the 
coasts  of  France.  Bernis.  Choiseul.  Elizabeth  of  Russia. 
Contades.  Broglie.  Saint-Germain.  The  Chevalier  d'Assas. 
Death  of  Elizabeth.  The  defection  of  Russia.  The  Family 
Compact.  Preliminaries  of  peace.  The  treaties  of  Paris  and 
Hubertsburg.     Bouchardon's  Statue  of  Louis  XV. 

CARDINAL  FLEURY  had  continued  the  Regent's 
EngHsh  poHcy  and  had  allowed  himself  to  be  duped 
by  his  pretended  friend,  Walpole.  The  British  Govern- 
ment had  been  continually  waiting  for  a  propitious  moment 
French  and  to  dispute  with  France  the  possession  of  her 
English  in  colonies  in  India  and  America  and  to  destroy 
India.  her  fleet.     In  Asia,  the  settlements  which  were 

originated  by  Colbert,  founded  by  Lenoir  and  Dumas,  and 
developed  by  Dupleix,  were  compromised  by  the  rivalry 
between  the  latter  and  de  La  Bourdonnais.  At  the  Peace  of 
Aix-la-Chapelle,  France  had  to  give  up  Madras  to  England 
and  only  kept  Pondicherry,  Mahe,  Chandernagore,  and  Karikal. 
Nevertheless,  Dupleix  continued  to  conquer  the  Mogul  Empire 
with  the  intention  of  establishing  European  supremacy,  and 
being  both  an  able  statesman  and  a  man  of  action,  he  under- 
stood that  in  order  to  exercise  a  victorious  authority  in  India 
he  would  have  to  gain  influence  over  one  or  other  of  the  puppets 
dignified  by  the  title  of  Nizam  or  Nabob,  whose  motions  he 
would  govern  and  who  would  be  the  mouthpiece  for  his  orders. 

171 


TlIK    EIGHT  KEN  Til    CENTURY 

The  Knulish  liistorian,  Macaulay,  says  :  "  The  arts  hotli  of 
war  and  ])olicy,  whicli  a  few  years  later  were  employed  with 
such  signal  success  by  the  English,  were  first  understood  and 
practised  by  this  ingenious  and  aspiring  Frenchman."  It 
was  Louis'  government  which  stopped  the  progress  of  this 
great  pioneer  of  French  colonization.  Dupleix  was  master  of  a 
territory  which  stretched  from  the  River  Narbada  to  Cape 
^     ,  .  Comorin,  comin-ising  a  tract  of  land  as  larjie  as 

France.  But  he  had  to  contend  with  Clive,  a 
young  English  adventurer,  endowed  with  the  military  talents 
in  which  his  adversary  was  lacking.  Clive  was  su})j)orted  by  a 
regular  army,  whilst  the  Frenchman  had  nothing  but  the  sweep- 
ings of  the  galleys.  The  King  would  not  make  the  sacrifices 
which  might,  in  spite  of  all,  have  assured  success.  Like  a 
faithful  disciple  of  Fleury,  he  gave  in  to  the  demands  of  the 
English  Cabinet  and  recalled  Dupleix  in  1754.  Duj)leix  has 
been  much  misunderstood.  Some  days  before  his  death  in 
1763,  he  published  his  Mcmoircs,  which  are  pitiful  reading  : 
"  I  have  sacrificed,"  he  says,  "  my  youth,  my  fortune,  and  my 
life  in  loading  my  nation  with  honour  and  riches  in  Asia.  .  .  . 
I  am  in  the  most  abject  poverty.  The  little  that  remained  to 
me  has  been  seized.  I  have  been  ol)ligcd  to  obtain  suspension 
decrees  to  prevent  myself  from  being  dragged  to  prison.  .  .  ." 

Colonel  Malleson  has  said  of  Dupleix  :  "  The  rivals  who 
profited  by  his  disgrace  place  him  on  a  pedestal  (his  bust  is  at 
Calcutta  amongst  those  of  other  great  Europeans)  hardly  less 
elevated  than  those  which  bear  Clive,  Warren  Hastings,  and 
Wellcsley."  * 

In  America  matters  were  going  no  better  for  France.  The 
Peace  of  Aix-la-Chapelle  had  not  determined  the  boundaries 
Events  in  of  the  English  and  French  colonies  there.     The 

America.  Canadians  were  defending  their  territory  by  forti- 

fying the  Valley  of  the  Ohio  and  protecting  the  St.  Lawrence 
and  the  Mississippi,  so  as  to  keep  the  English  between  the 
Alleghanies  and  the  sea.  Some  of  the  islands  of  the  Antilles 
were   still    in    dispute.     Nevertheless,    French   commerce   was 

*  Colonel  Malleson's  actual  words  arc  :    "  Not  the  less  will  even  the 
descendants  of  his  rivals  place  him  on  the  ptdistal  of  Clive,   Warren 
Hastings,  and  Wellcsley."-  History  of  the  French  in  India. 
172 


THE    SEVEN    YEARS    WAR 

expanding  ;  a  new  impulse  had  been  given  to  shipping  by  two 
great  ministers,  Rouille  and  Machault.  England,  jealous  of 
the  French  maritime  power,  had  determined  on  her  destruction. 
In  June  1755,  without  any  declaration  of  war,  Admiral 
Boscawen,  then  in  Newfoundland,  seized  two  French  frigates, 
the  Alcide  and  the  Lys.  The  English  thus  commenced  hostili- 
ties with  a  scandalous  surprise  attack.  The  chase  continued, 
and  more  than  three  hundred  vessels  fell  into  the  English 
nets.  The  Due  de  Mirepoix,  French  Ambassador  in  London, 
and  Bussy,  the  Minister  at  Hanover,  were  ordered  to  return 
immediately  without  taking  leave  of  the  Courts  to  which  they 
were  accredited. 

A  reprisal  was  necessary  and  it  was  complete.  A  French 
fleet,  commanded  by  the  Marquis  de  la  Galissonniere,  trans- 
Capture  of  ported  troops  to  Minorca  under  the  command  of 
Port  Mahon.  Marshal  de  Richelieu.  After  a  brilliant  assault 
the  fortress  of  Port  Mahon  was  taken  on  May  20,  1756.  The 
French  were  thus  masters  of  the  Mediterranean.  It  was  an 
eloquent  reply  to  Boscawen.  The  rejoicing  was  great  in  Paris. 
England  made  Admiral  Byng  responsible  for  his  defeat,  and  he 
was  shot  on  board  his  own  vessel. 

During  these  operations  war  was  declared  by  England  on 
May  17,  and  by  France  on  June  16.  Unhappily,  Louis  could 
not  fight  England  without  securing  peace  on  the  Continent. 

He  had  to  take  into  account  that  his  ally  Frederick  had 
deserted  him,  and  by  the  Treaty  of  Whitehall  on  January  16, 
1756,  had  agreed  to  support  British  interests,  and  to  defend 
the  Electorate  of  Hanover  which  still  belonged  to  George  II,  and 
was  later  menaced  by  the  French  Army.  At  this  point  Maria 
Theresa  interfered.  The  obvious  desire  of  the  Empress-Queen 
was  to  get  back  Silesia  from  Prussia.  Ever  since  1750,  through 
her  ministers,  Kaunitz  and  Starhemberg,  she  had  been  making 
Maria  Theresa's  overtures  for  an  alliance  with  Louis,  and  now,  in 
overtures.  1755,  the  moment  seemed  favourable.     Kaunitz 

had  a  complete  insight  into  the  ways  of  the  Court  of  France, 
having  spent  two  years  there  with  the  object  of  obtaining  this 
knowledge,  and  he  knew  to  whom  he  should  apply  at  this 
serious  juncture.  From  Vienna,  where  he  was  continuing  his 
brilliant  career  under  Maria  Theresa,  he  wrote  to  Madame  de 

173 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

Pompadour  :  "  Monsieur  Ic  Comtc  do  Starhcmberg  has  matters 
of  fjrcat  importance  to  propose  to  the  King,  which  are  of  such 
a  nature  tliat  they  can  only  be  communicated  through  some  one 
whom  his  most  Christian  Majesty  honours  with  his  complete 
confidence,  and  whom  he  will  indicate  to  the  Comtc  de  Stariiem- 
berg."  The  man  honoured  with  complete  confidence  was 
Bcrnis,  who  had  just  returned  from  Venice,  where  he  had  been 
ambassador,  and  was  expecting  to  be  made  minister.  Louis 
discussed  the  matter  with  him  and  w'ith  the  ^larquise.  It  was 
decided  at  the  meeting  of  Babiole,  in  September  1755,  that  the 
Austrian  proposals  should  be  considered.  Starhemberg  then 
revealed  to  Louis  the  King  of  Prussia's  negotiations  with 
England  through  his  representative,  the  Duke  of  Brunswick. 
Nothing  was  known  of  these  negotiations  at  Versailles,  because 
the  French  Ambassador  had  been  withdrawn  from  London. 
The  news  was  an  important  trum[)  in  the  Austrian  Minister's 
game.  Frederick,  who  was  allied  to  France  by  a  treaty  which 
held  good  until  July  5,  1756,  signed  in  January  of  the  same  year 
a  treaty  with  George  II  against  France.  Faced  with  this 
outrageous  action  Louis  did  not  hesitate.  He  decided  to  reverse 
his  alliance.  On  May  1  France  signed  with  Austria  the  first 
First  Treaty  Treaty  of  Versailles ;  the  two  Powers  promised 
of  Versailles.  mutual  guarantees  and  the  help  of  twenty-four 
thousand  men  against  any  aggressor.  At  the  end  of  the  year 
the  Czarina  Elizabeth  subscribed  to  this  Treaty,  rejecting  an 
alliance  with  England  which  her  advisers  had  urged  her  to 
conclude. 

The  outlook  was  gloomy  ;  France  had  to  contend  with  the 
rivalry  of  England  on  the  seas  and  in  the  colonics  and  also  fight 
on  the  Continent.  Louis  was,  perhaps,  supported  by  the  idea 
that  his  adversaries  belonged  to  a  difTerent  religion,  but  he  had 
embarked  on  a  double  enterprise,  which  was  the  most  disastrous 
of  the  eighteenth  century.  Frederick  followed  England's 
example,  and  without  declaring  war  invaded  Saxony,  m  August 
1750,  with  the  evident  intention  of  marching  to  the  borders  of 
Bohemia  and  so  threatening  Maria  Theresa.  This  caused  con- 
sternation at  Versailles,  especially  to  the  Dauphine  and  lur 
friends.  The  first  victims  of  the  hostilities  were  Augustus  HI, 
her  father,  who  fled  to  Warsaw,  and  her  mother,  who  remained 
174 


THE    SEVEN    YEARS    WAR 

at  Dresden  to  receive  the  insults  of  the  King  of  Prussia's  repre- 
sentatives. 

Thus  both  family  interests,  and  the  engagements  she  had 
made,  prompted  France  to  support  Austria.  In  face  of  the 
Prussian  aggression  she  could  not  be  content  with  the  stipula- 
tions of  the  Treaty  of  May  1.  Since  war  had  been  declared  it 
was  best  to  do  all  that  was  possible  to  terminate  it  quickly  and 
successfully.  Louis  was  ready  to  make  any  sacrifice  ;  he  said 
of  his  intimate  connection  with  Vienna  :  "  It  is  my  work,  I 
consider  it  good,  and  I  mean  to  maintain  it."  He  sent  the  Comte 
d'Estrees  to  Maria  Theresa  to  arrange  the  plans  of  the  military 
operations.  Over  a  hundred  thousand  Frenchmen  were  placed 
at  the  disposal  of  the  Empress  to  form  the  armies  of  the  Rhine 
Second  Treaty  and  of  the  Main  ;  one  was  to  invade  Hanover  and 
of  Versailles,  the  other  to  support  the  armies  of  Maria  Theresa. 
This  new  Convention  was  signed  at  Vienna  on  February  28, 1757, 
and  ratified  by  the  second  treaty  of  Versailles  on  May  1,  1757. 

The  Comte  d'Estrees  was  made  a  Marshal  on  his  return,  and, 
in  spite  of  the  competition  for  the  post,  obtained  the  command 
of  the  great  army  of  the  Lower  Rhine.  Madame  de  Pompadour 
had  wanted  this  post  for  her  friend,  the  Prince  de  Soubise. 

Meanwhile  Frederick  advanced  on  Prague,  which  he  captured 
on  May  6.  But  he  sustained  a  sanguinary  defeat  at  Kollin, 
on  June  18,  inflicted  by  Marshal  Daun.  "  Fortune,"  wrote  the 
King  of  Prussia,  "  is  turning  her  back  on  me.  She  is  a  woman 
and  I  am  not  gallant.  I  ought  to  have  expected  it ;  she  has 
joined  the  ladies  who  are  making  war  against  me."  These  ladies 
were  Maria  Theresa,  the  Czarina  Elizabeth  (whose  armies  were 
watching  the  Pomeranian  frontiers)  and  Madame  de  Pompadour. 
Frederick  evacuated  Bohemia. 

D'Estrees  entered  the  lists  and  chased  the  Anglo-Hanoverian 
forces  across  Westphalia  to  the  Weser,  which  he  crossed  at  Hameln. 
Victory  of  On  July  26,  aided  by  Chevert  and  three  Princes  of 

d'Estrees  at  the  Blood  Royal,  the  Due  d' Orleans,  grandson  of 
Hastembeck.  the  Regent,  the  Prince  de  Conde,  and  the  Comte 
de  la  Marche,  he  defeated  the  Duke  of  Cumberland  at  Hastem- 
beck. The  news  of  the  victory  of  Hastembeck  did  not  reach 
Paris  before  the  departure  of  a  courier  sent  with  a  letter  from 
the  King  to  d'Estrees  telling  him  :   "  You  are  replaced  by  the 

175 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

Mar6chal  de  Richelieu."  A  friend  of  d'Estr6es,  who  knew  what 
was  fToinfj  to  hajipcn,  luid  warned  liiin,  and  urged  liini  to  offer 
buttle,  hoping  thus  to  save  him,  as  he  thought  none  would  dare  to 
recall  a  general  who  had  just  won  a  victory.  .  .  .  The  public  was 
furious.  An  engraving  was  pul)lished  in  which  Marshal  d'Kstrc^X'S 
was  shown  thrashing  the  Duke  of  Cumberland  with  a  branch  of 
laurel,  and  as  the  leaves  fell  the  Marshal  de  Richelieu  was  pick- 
ing them  up.  D'Estrecs  had  supporters  even  at  the  Court. 
The  Comte  de  Maillebois,  a  son  of  the  old  Marshal,  who  had 
taken  part  in  intrigues,  and  whose  conduct  at  Hastembeck  had 
been  open  to  question,  was  imprisoned  at  Doullens. 

Tiie  intrigues  at  Versailles  compromised  the  success  with 
which  the  campaign  had  begun.  Richelieu  committed  fault 
Marechal  de  ^^ft^^'i'  fault.  On  his  own  responsibility  he  signed 
Richelieu.  the    fruitless    Convention    of    Closter-Zeven    on 

September  8,  1757,  an  action  which  met  with  strong  disapproval 
at  Versailles.  The  other  army  was  commanded  by  the  Prince 
de  Soubise.  In  face  of  the  enemy  there  was  personal  animosity 
between  the  two  generals.  Richelieu  made  a  pretence  of  going 
to  the  assistance  of  Madame  de  Pompadour's  protege,  but  his 
only  real  object  was  to  secure  the  defeat  of  his  rival.  He  wore 
his  troops  out  with  forced  marches,  disheartened  his  soldiers, 
and  encouraged  ]iillage  while  reserving  the  greater  part  of 
the  booty  for  himself.  The  Pavilion  de  Hanovre,  which 
still  exists  on  the  Boulevards  of  Paris,  was  built  on  his  return 
from  the  campaign  with  the  proceeds  of  his  robberies,  and 
testifies  to  their  extent.  "  The  disorder,"  wrote  Marshal  de 
Belle-Isle,  "  the  insubordination,  and  the  brigandage  of  Monsieur 
de  Richelieu's  army,  have  passed  all  bounds.  I  have  never 
seen  anything  which  comes  anywhere  near  it  in  all  my  fifty-six 
years'  experience  of  war.  It  is  certainly  the  General's  fault, 
for  he  ought  to  be  master,  or  he  is  not  worthy  to  command.  It 
is  true  that  to  this  end  he  must  begin  by  being  himself  irreproach- 
able, and  by  giving  an  example  of  })erfeet  disinterestedness." 
Each  day  new  officers  were  sent  from  Versailles  and  thrust  into 
the  eonlliet  by  means  of  influence.  They  arrived  wit  h  numerous 
retainers  who  were  so  many  useless  mouths  to  feixi,  to  the 
detriment  of  tlie  weary  half-starved  soldiers.  At  (lotha,  when 
the  Franeo-Imi)erial  camp  eomiiiandtd  by  Soubise  and  Ilildburg- 
17G 


THE    SEVEN    YEARS    WAR 

hausen  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  they  found  a  crowd  of 
secretaries,  cooks,  and  valets,  valuable  plate,  toilet  articles, 
scents,  parasols,  and  even  monkeys  and  parrots  ! 

These  carpet  knights  soon  got  tired  of  the  camps,  and 
then  there  were  new  appeals  made  at  Com't.  "  If  an  army  is 
being  formed,"  wrote  General  de  Fontenay,  Ambassador  to 
Saxony,  "  the  women  clamour  until  those  in  whom  they  are 
interested  receive  appointments.  After  three  months  of  the 
campaign,  they  go  through  the  same  performance  to  obtain 
permission  for  their  friends  to  return." 

There  was  current  at  his  time  a  verse  in  which  Marie-Jos^phe 
of  Saxony  speaks  to  the  Marquise — the  Dauphine  both  as  a 
Frenchwoman  and  a  Saxon  was  suffering  doubly  from  the 
misfortunes  which  were  accumulating  : 

Delphine  a  Pompadour  a  tenu  ce  propos  : 
Madame,  desormais,  si  vous  voulez  m'en  croire, 
Vous  vous  contenterez  pour  votre  propre  gloire 
De  faire  des  fermiers  et  non  des  gen^raux.* 

The  King  of  Prussia  was  in  the  heart  of  the  Electorate  of 
Saxony  ;  he  had  only  twenty  thousand  men  left.  Soubise  was 
Frederick  in  opposing  him,  in  command  of  part  of  the  Imperial 
Saxony.  army.     Richelieu     at    Halberstadt    could    have 

attacked  Frederick's  flank,  having  sixty  thousand  men  at  his 
disposal.  The  Austrian  General,  Marschall,  was  holding  Lusatia 
with  fourteen  thousand  men.  But  each  hesitated.  Marschall 
considered  himself  too  weak  and  had  no  orders  to  advance  ; 
Soubise  was  awaiting  reinforcements  and  lacked  supplies. 
Richelieu  said  that  the  season  was  too  severe  to  undertake  any- 
thing with  such  an  exhausted  army  as  his.  The  King  of  Prussia 
retreated,  but  very  slowly,  having  no  need  to  hurry  from  so 
indolent  an  enemy  ;  but  he  was  not  very  confident.  Besenval 
tells  a  characteristic  anecdote  of  him.  One  evening  in  October 
1757,  the  King  had  gone  to  bed  and  was  sleeping  on  straw  ; 
one  of  his  grenadiers  awoke  him,  saying  :  "  Frederick,  here  is 
one  of  your  men  who  had  deserted  and  whom  they  are  bringing 
back  to  you." 

*  The  Dauphine  said  this  to  Pompadour  :  Madame,  for  the  future, 
take  my  advice  and  content  yourself,  for  the  sake  of  your  fame,  with 
making  farmers,  and  not  generals. 

M  177 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

"  IJriiifT  him  forward." 

The  King  asked  him  why  he  had  deserted. 

"  Your  affairs,"  answered  the  deserter,  "  are  in  such  a  state 
that  I  left  you  to  seek  my  fortune  elsewhere." 

"  You  are  right."  said  the  King,  "  but  I  pray  you  to  remain 
with  me  during  this  eam})aign,  and  if  things  go  no  better,  / 
jiromise  to  desert  with  you.''''         i 

Kossbach  was  fought  on  November  5.  Frederick's  twenty 
thousand  men  took  the  sixty  thousand  Franco-Germans  by 
Battle  of  surprise.     The  Prince  of  Hildburghausen  retired 

Rossbach.  at  the  first  cannonade  and  Soubisc  lost  his  head. 

The  King  of  Prussia  wrote  :  "  The  army  of  France  seemed 
about  to  attack  me  on  the  5th  of  this  month.  But  it  did  not 
do  me  this  honour  and  fled  at  the  first  discharge  of  our  guns, 
without  my  being  able  to  come  up  with  it."  The  army  of 
France  !  Frederick  forgot  that  France  had  allies  ;  so  did  the 
pamphleteers.  They  preferred  to  make  songs  against  the  French 
general  and  to  revenge  themselves  on  Madame  de  Pompadour. 
Soubise  wrote  to  the  King  :  "I  write  to  your  Majesty  in  my 
great  despair.  The  rout  of  your  army  is  complete."  Was  the 
Prince  of  Hildburghausen  equally  frank  ? 

In  Silesia  the  Austrian  armies  took  Liegnitz  and  Schweidnitz 
from  Marshal  Bevern  and  shut  him  up  in  Breslau.  Frederick 
Battle  of  hastened  to  the  spot,  retook  Breslau,  and  won  the 

Leuthen.  battle   of  Leuthen  (Lissa).     Daun,  the  Austrian 

General,  brought  back  in  December  only  thirty  thousand  men 
out  of  the  eighty  thousand  he  had  once  had.  The  King  of 
Prussia  had  reconquered  the  lost  ground,  and  his  iron  grip  held 
Silesia,  never  again  to  be  loosened.  The  victory  of  Leuthen, 
Napoleon  said,  "  was  one  of  the  most  complete  which  have  ever 
been  gained.  By  itself  it  would  be  sufficient  to  immortalize 
Frederick  II."  These  comjiliments  are  pcnnitted  from  general 
to  general  ;  but  what  must  be  said  of  Voltaire,  who  crowned  the 
brow  of  his  Potsdam  friend  with  laurels  ? 

The  songs  which  were  levelled  at  the  generals  and  Madame 
de  Pompadour  amused  the  public  and  did  no  more.  The 
The  Comte  Marquise  retained  all  her  prestige.  The  ministers 
de  Clermont.  submitted  the  most  important  questions  to  lier 
before  they  were  discussed  in  council.  She  interfered  with  the 
178 


THE    SEVEN    YEARS    WAR 

military  operations,  traced  plans  of  campaign,  marked  maps 
with  patches  on  the  places  she  thought  advisable  to  attack  or 
defend.  The  appointments  of  generals  were  at  her  disposal 
and  always  caused  the  same  complaints.  Louis  de  Bourbon, 
Comte  de  Clermont,  took  Richelieu's  place.  He  was  the  great- 
grandson  of  the  great  Conde  ;  and  was  then  fifty  years  old. 
Although  Abbe  of  Saint-Germain-des-Pres,  he  had  served  in 
1737  and  had  distinguished  himself  in  many  campaigns,  par- 
ticularly at  Lawfeld  under  Maurice  de  Saxe.  He  did  not  wish  to 
marry,  although  he  was  only  a  tonsured  clerk,  because  he  would 
have  had  to  abandon  his  numerous  benefices,  and  he  preferred 
to  lead  an  independent  life.  He  was  an  Academician,  but  he 
had  not  delivered  the  customary  discourse.  The  command, 
which  he  had  solicited  with  much  persistency  from  the  beginning 
of  the  war,  was  not  really  suited  to  him,  for  there  is  a  great 
difference  between  the  officer  who  obeys  orders  and  can  execute 
them,  and  the  general-in-chief  who  must  show  initiative.  They 
laughed  at  him  and  called  him  moitU  plumef,  moitU  rabat 
(which  may  be  rendered  half- sword,  half- gown),  and  wrote  this 
celebrated  verse  against  him  : 

Est-ce  un  Abb6  ?     L'Eglise  le  renie. 

Un  general  ?     On  I'a  bien  maltraite  ; 

Mais  il  lui  reste  au  moins  rAcademie  ; 

N'y  fut-il  pas  muet  par  dignite  ? 

Qu'est-il  enfin  ?     Que  son  merite  est  mince  ? 

Helas  !  j'ai  beau  lui  chercher  un  talent ; 

Un  titre  auguste  eclaire  son  neant, 

Pour  son  malheur,  le  pauvre  homme  est  un  prince.* 

The  Comte  de  Gisors  wrote  a  letter  about  Clermont  to  his 
father,  the  Mareehal  de  Belle-Isle.  It  was  a  serious  criticism 
from  a  young  soldier  whose  superior  qualities  were  appreciated 
even  by  his  adversaries.  The  tone  of  the  letter  proves  that 
Gisors  had  no  particular  intention  of  disparaging  his  general ; 
it  suggests  that  it  pained  him  to  have  to  make  such  damaging 

*  Is  he  an  Abbe  ?  The  Church  repudiates  him.  A  general  ?  He  has 
been  very  badly  treated.  But  at  least  the  Academy  remains  to  him  ; 
even  there  did  he  not  preserve  a  dignified  silence  ?  What  is  he  then  ? 
How  small  is  his  merit  ?  Alas  !  I  search  him  in  vain  for  a  talent ;  an 
august  title  advertises  his  nullity;  unfortunately  the  poor  man  is  a 
prince. 

179 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

admissions  :  "  Until  now  I  have  not  been  able  to  s})eak  openly 
to  vou.  .  .  .  I\I.  le  Conitc  de  Clermont  has  no  knowledn;e  of 
the  country  and  is  incapable  of  forming  any  plan  by  himself, 
yet  he  will  not  allow  himself  to  be  governed  consistently  by 
any  one  person,  but  always  follows  the  last  advice.  He  has  no 
foresight  and  is  little  troubled  by  the  dangers  at  hand,  is  amused 
at  trifles  and  wastes,  his  time  in  useless  exercise.     Such  is  our 

general." 

In  1758  Frederick's  enemies  each  took  independent  action. 
The  French,  Austrians  and  Russians  tried  to  resist  the  King  of 
Battle  of  Prussia  on  the  Rhine,  in  Moravia,  and  in  East 

Crefeld.  Prussia.     Clermont    was    beaten    at   Crefeld    by 

Ferdinand  of  Bruns-svick  on  June  23.  It  was  a  repetition  of 
Rossbaeh.  Clermont  wrote  like  Soubise  :  "  We  have  only  the 
shadow  of  an  army  left."  At  Crefeld  the  Comtc  de  Gisors  was 
mortally  wounded  and  died  at  the  age  of  twenty-six,  a  true 
Marcellus  of  the  eighteenth  century.  The  day  after  the  death 
of  this  young  hero  one  of  his  friends  {M.  de  Vignolcs)  wrote  : 
"  We  have  just  lost  the  best  subject  and  the  best  man  in  the 
kingdom  ;  he  was  endowed  with  too  many  virtues  to  live  in  so 
corrupt  an  age.  .  .  .  My  poor  friend  kept  his  consciousness  till 
the  last  and  prepared  his  own  soul  for  death.  He  was  mourned 
by  the  enemy  as  well  as  by  ourselves." 

Great  hopes  were  placed  in  Marshal  Daun  and  in  the  Musco- 
vites who  were  advancing  to  threaten  Frederick  both  in  the 
south  and  the  north.     But  the  battle  of  Zorndorf  on  August  25 
was  indecisive.     The  Muscovites  and  the  Prussians  lay  down 
to  rest  where  they  were,  after  terrible  carnage  lasting  eleven 
hours,  and  the  next  day,  Fermov,  the  Russian  general,  with- 
drew to  the  Vistula.     On  the  Rhine,  Chevert  won  the  battle  of 
Liitternberg  on  October  7  in  the  name  of  Soubise.     Chevert  had 
the  glory  and  Soubise  was  given  the  Marshal's  baton.  Frederick, 
freed  on  the  Russian  side,  attacked  the  Austrians.     Daun  de- 
feated  him  at  Hochkirehen  on  October  14,  but  he  failed  to 
follow  up  his  advantage,  and  was  driven  back  into  Bohemia. 
Frederick  was  once  more  triumphant  in  the  most  critical  situa- 
tion, although  he  had   the  mortification  of  seeing  part  of  his 
states  in  the  hands  of  Klizalxth's  armies.     England  profited 
by  the  French  disasters,  and   attacked  the  gallant  garrisons 
180 


THE    SEVEN    YEARS    WAR 

and  squadrons  on  the  French  coasts  and  in  the  colonies,  all 
doomed  to  perish  for  want  of  aid.  The  Continental  war  exhausted 
The  English  France.  Commodore  Howe  made  a  descent  on 
raid  the  Cherbourg   on   August  16,  levied   contributions, 

French  coasts,  burnt  twenty-seven  ships,  blew  up  with  a  mine  the 
embankments  which  defended  the  port,  and  then  retired,  taking 
with  him  cannon  and  flags.  The  English  tried  to  do  the  same  at 
Saint-Cast,  near  Saint-Malo,  on  October  11,  but  were  repulsed 
this  time  by  some  Breton  volunteers  commanded  by  the  Due 
d'Aisuillon.  In  Canada  Montcalm  did  marvels  with  a  handful 
of  men.  He  wrote  to  the  minister  who  had  abandoned  him  : 
"  We  shall  fight  and  we  shall  bury  ourselves,  if  it  be  necessary, 
under  the  ruins  of  the  colony."  When  Louisburg  was  taken  on 
July  20  Montcalm  tried  to  bar  the  way.  But  he  was  left  alone, 
at  the  head  of  his  little  troop,  augmented,  it  is  true,  by  some 
valiant  Canadians,  and  he  died,  a  hero,  at  Quebec  on  September  13, 
1759.  He  left  the  command  to  the  Marquis  de  Vaudreuil, 
They  take  who  could  do  nothing  against  the  numbers  of  his 

Montreal.  enemies  and  was  obliged  to  surrender  Montreal. 

...  It  was  a  fatal  blow  to  France's  colonial  enterprise  and 
her  maritime  commerce. 

At  Versailles,  Bernis,  who  was  appointed  Minister  for  Foreign 
Affairs  in  June  1757,  sued  for  peace  or  at  least  an  armistice. 
He  had  "  a  beautiful  dream,"  he  wished  to  in- 
iierms.  terrupt  the  war  and  only  begin  it  again  when  they 

had  "  better  actors  and  better  concerted  military  plans."  He 
found  himself  confronted  with  Madame  de  Pompadour  who 
wanted  war  and  intended  to  have  it ;  everything  gave  way  before 
her.  He  had  against  him  also  Maria  Theresa,  who  was  more 
anxious  than  ever  to  avenge  her  defeats.  Thereupon  Bernis 
resigned  ;  the  Comte  de  Stainville,  recently  created  Due  de 
Choiseul,  replaced  him.  This  diplomatist  had  just  served  his 
apprenticeship  as  Ambassador  at  Rome  and  Vienna.  He 
justified  both  the  confidence  and  favour  of  the  King. 

Choiseul  was  an  ugly  man,  but  the  defects  of  his  face  were 
forgotten  in  the  brilliancy  of  his  wit.  He  came  of  an  eminent 
Due  de  family  of  Lorraine,  and  had  married  a  daughter 

Choiseul.  of  Crozat  the  financier.     With  her  he  received  an 

immense  fortune  which  enabled  him  to  live  as  a  great  noble. 

181 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

His  wife,  a  channinfj,  acntlo,  and  charilahlc  woman,  assisted 
his  rise  not  only  by  her  wealth,  but  by  lier  grace  and  her  quahties 
of  heart  and  head.  Choiscul's  retinue  had  never  been  surpassed 
by  any  minister.  All  eourtiers  and  all  foreigners  wh(j  had  been 
presented  were  admitted  to  his  house.  He  held  his  receptions 
at  one  o'clock  and  dined  at  two  ;  no  matter  how  many  visitors 
were  present,  all  were  invited  to  dinner.  There  was  always  one 
great  table  with  thirty-five  covers,  and  a  second  was  prepared 
in  case  of  need.  A  servant  counted  the  guests  as  they  arrived, 
and  as  soon  as  the  number  exceeded  thirty-five  the  second  table 
was  made  ready. 

President  Hdnault  has  left  a  portrait  of  this  splendid  and 
intelligent  minister,  who  "  among  the  pygmies  of  the  reign 
was  something  of  a  great  man.''  After  enumerating  his  virtues 
— frankness,  vivacity,  tact,  and  courage — he  asks  :  "  But  had 
he  then  no  faults  ?  Oh,  yes  !  Love  of  pleasure — he  does  not 
deny  himself.  He  gives  much  time  to  it,  as  well  as  to  making 
his  court  to  the  King,  whether  at  supper  or  the  gaming  table. 
Obviously,  this  is  so  much  time  lost  to  business.  But  his 
friends  re})ly  that  M.  de  Choiseul  is  able  to  use  for  these  distrac- 
tions the  time  which  other  ministers  are  compelled  to  devote  to 
understanding  a  subject  or  to  making  up  their  minds.  His  wit 
and  talents  enable  him  to  economize  the  hours  which  less  active 
and  less  penetrating  minds  find  all  too  short," 

Choiscul's  first  diplomatic  achievement  was  the  third  Treaty 
of  Vienna,  signed  on  December  30,  1758.  It  gave  complete 
satisfaction  to  Maria  Theresa,  who  was  assured  of  the  assistance 
of  a  hundred  thousand  Frenchmen,  Besides  this,  her  subsidy 
was  doubled  and  she  was  promised  that  peace  should  not  be 
signed  until  Frederick  had  restored  Silesia,  Choiseul  forgot 
to  demand  a  return  for  these  assurances,  or  assistance  of  any 
kind  in  the  struggle  with  England.  In  this  he  was  at  one 
with  Louis,  whose  attitude  was  absurdly  disinterested.  The 
Czarina  Elizabeth  subscribed  to  this  treaty  and  pledged  her- 
self, at  Choiseul's  instigation,  to  bring  the  enemies  of 
France  and  Austria  "  to  the  terms  of  a  just  and  reasonable 
arrangement." 

In  course  of  time  Clioiseul  secured  an  unique  position  :  he 
was  in  charge  of  three  departments,  Foreign  AlTairs,  War  and 
182 


THE    SEVEN    YEARS    WAR 

the  Navy.  He  presided  over  each  in  turn,  but  on  resigning 
he  chose  as  his  successors  nonentities  who  would  allow  him  to 
retain  complete  control,  though  it  must  be  admitted  he  did  not 
wait  until  he  occupied  any  particular  ministry  before  inter- 
fering with  it.  He  was  responsible  for  the  new  project  of  an 
invasion  of  England  in  1759,  The  scheme  was  rather  bold  than 
French  Navy  practical,  considering  the  condition  of  the  French 
destroyed.  fleet  and  the  vigilance  of  the  English.     The  Havre 

squadron  was  bombarded  and  burnt.  The  Toulon  fleet  suc- 
ceeded in  passing  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar,  but  was  checked  on 
reaching  Lagos.  Part  of  the  Brest  fleet,  commanded  by  the 
Marquis  de  Conflans,  was  wrecked  on  the  sand-banks  of  Belle- 
Isle-en-Mer,  and  what  was  left  was  annihilated  by  Admiral 
Hawke.  Thus  the  last  French  ships  were  gone,  and  Berryer, 
the  Minister  of  Marine,  put  up  all  the  munitions  of  war  remain- 
ing in  the  arsenals  to  auction.  Thereupon  Choiseul  thought 
of  opening  negotiations  with  England  through  the  mediation 
of  Russia.  He  met  with  a  certain  amount  of  opposition  from 
Louis,  and  his  efforts  were  checked  by  an  event  of  considerable 
importance,  by  which  all  calculations  were  upset.  Frederick 
was  defeated  by  the  Russian  army  under  Soltykoff  at  Kiiners- 
dorff,  some  leagues  from  Frankfort  on  the  Oder,  on  August  13, 
1759.  The  King  of  Prussia  fled  from  the  field  of  battle  and 
wrote  some  days  later  :  "  What  a  calamity  !  I  will  not  survive 
it.  The  consequences  of  the  battle  will  be  worse  than  the 
battle  itself.  I  can  see  no  way  out,  and  in  truth  I  believe  that 
all  is  lost."  Of  an  army  of  forty-eight  thousand  he  had  scarcely 
three  thousand  left,  and  he  thought  of  committing  suicide.  It 
was  the  right  moment  to  dictate  peace  ;  the  Russians  wished  it, 
but  the  Austrians  were  set  on  the  re-conquest  of  Silesia.  Solty- 
koff waited  for  Daun  for  five  weeks  and  finally  retired  on  East 
Prussia.  Frederick  recovered  his  spirits  :  "I  thought  they 
would  march  on  the  Rhine,"  he  wrote,  "  but  they  take  the 
opposite  course.  ...  I  am  announcing  to  you  the  miracle  of 
the  House  of  Brandenburg."  This  miracle  was  due  to  the 
procrastination  of  Daun,  who  revenged  himself  by  capturing 
Dresden  and  driving  the  Prussians  out  of  Saxon  territory ;  it 
was  the  greatest  success  of  the  campaign. 

The  French  armies  of  the  Rhine  and  Main  did  nothing  of 

183 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

noto  in  this  year.  The  former  ^vas  commanded  by  the  Marquis 
de  Contades,  nominated  by  the  Pompadour  in  place  of  the  Comte 
de  Clermont,  the  latter  by  the  Due  de  liro^^lie, 
who  managed  to  check  Ferdinand  of  Brunswick 
at  Bergen  on  April  13,  and  took  Casscl  and  Minden.  Contades 
joined  Broglie  and  disputed  the  command  with  him.  As  a 
result  there  were  bickerings  and  rivalry  between  the  generals, 
and  the  early  success  was  neutralised.  Brunswick  took  ad- 
vantage of  this  and  recaptured  Minden  on  August  1.  The  only 
benefit  derived  was  the  recall  of  Contades,  whose  disgrace  was 
accentuated  when  Broglie  was  raised  to  the  rank  of  Marshal  : 
"  the  latter  passed  over  the  heads  of  more  than  a  hundred  of 
his  seniors."  The  Amsterdam  Gazette  announced  the  news  in 
the  following  words  :  "  This  dignity  has  in  his  case  preceded 
years  of  service  and  seniority.  If  it  had  been  the  immediate 
reward  of  the  brilliant  victory  of  Bergen,  the  enemy  would 
certainly  have  not  been  able  to  inflict  the  fatal  day  of  Minden 
on  us."  Maria  Theresa  gave  Broglie  the  title  of  Prince  of  the 
Holy  Roman  Empire. 

Misfortune  followed  misfortune.  In  1760  another  rivalry 
arose  between  the  Marechal  de  Broglie  and  the  Comte  de  Saint- 
Broglie  and  Germain,  causing  them  to  separate.  Saint-Gcr- 
Saint-Germain.  main  returned  to  Paris  after  his  victory  at  Korbach 
on  July  10,  leaving  sincere  regrets  behind  him.  He  was  replaced 
by  the  Chevalier  du  Muy.  The  latter  was  deieatcd  at  Warburg. 
He  lost  many  men  in  conducting  his  retreat,  and  people  said 
"  the  retreat  of  Monsieur  de  Saint-Germain  caused  many  tears, 
and  that  of  Monsieur  de  Muy  mueli  blood  to  flow."  The 
Marquis  de  Castries  was  charged  by  Broglie  with  the  defence  of 
Wesel  ;  he  checked  Ferdinand  of  Brunswick's  son  at  the  Abbey 
of  Klosterkampen  on  October  15  and  10.  The  battle  is  cele- 
_ , .  brated  for  the  heroic  death  of  the  Chevalier  d' Assas 

and  Sergeant  Dubois,  These  two  offjcers  were  on 
the  extreme  left  of  their  regiment,  which  was  gradually  being 
driven  back  though  maintaining  its  fire.  A  comrade  said  that 
they  were  making  a  mistake  and  were  firing  (m  Frenchmen. 
D'Assas  and  Dubois  went  forward  to  fmd  out  if  this  were 
true.  Immediately  the  English  surrounded  them  and  threatened 
them  with  their  bayonets,  promising  them  their  lives  if  they 
184 


^       THE    SEVEN    YEARS    WAR 

would  be  silent.     They  cried  out,  "  Shoot,  it  is  the  enemy," 
and  fell,  victims  to  their  lofty  courage. 

The  Russians  and  Austrians  had  important  successes  at 
Landshut  and  Glatz.  The  troops  of  Tottleben,  Tchernychef  and 
Lacy  entered  Berlin  and  remained  there  as  masters  of  the  capital 
for  three  days.  But  Frederick  had  his  revenge  at  Torgau  on 
November  3,  and  held  his  own  in  Saxony. 

The  next  year  similar  vicissitudes  continued  until  the 
defection  of  France's  alHes  hastened  the  end.  Soubise  managed 
to  overcome  the  intrigues  against  him  and  was  made  General-in- 
Chief,  an  appointment  which  caused  widespread  discontent. 
The  Comte  de  Broglie  distinguished  himself  at  Cassel,  but  his 
father,  the  Marshal,  was  defeated  at  Vilhnghausen  on  July  16, 
owing  to  his  haste  to  fight  before  the  arrival  of  Soubise,  of  whom 
he  was  jealous.  Then  followed  skirmishes  round  Cassel,  where 
Ferdinand  of  Brunswick  was  trying  to  separate  the  two  French 
armies,  and  so  to  prevent  them  doing  anything.  In  Silesia  the 
Austrian  General,  Laudon,  took  Schweidnitz  and  the  Russians 
seized  Kolberg  and  all  Pomerania  as  far  as  Stettin.  Frederick 
Death  o£  was,  as  he  said,  "  at  his  wits'  ends  "  when  suddenly 

the  Czarina  the  Czarina  Elizabeth  died  on  January  5,  1762. 
Elizabeth.  This  catastrophe  caused  the  immediate  cessation 

of  hostilities  on  the  part  of  the  Muscovites.  The  new  Czar, 
Peter  III,  Elizabeth's  nephew,  was  a  Prince  of  Holstein  and 
therefore  more  German  than  Russian.  His  first  act  was  to 
ofTer  to  ally  himself  with  Frederick,  and  he  signed  first  a  truce 
and  then  a  peace.  Tchernychef's  army,  which  was  occupying 
Silesia,  now  fired  on  its  former  allies  the  Austrians  :  "  Russia's 
defection  was  in  fact  a  desertion."  These  new  friends,  so 
quickly  gained,  saved  Frederick  and  his  kingdom  ;  "it  was 
restored  to  him  by  the  death  of  a  woman  and  supported  by 
the  power  which  had  been  most  anxious  for  its  destruction.  .  .  . 
On  what  do  human  things  depend  ?  "  adds  the  King  of  Prussia  ; 
"  the  smallest  events  affect  and  change  the  destiny  of  empires." 

As  early  as  1759  Choiseul  undertook  secret  negotiations  to 
bring  about  peace  with  England,  but  he  had  to  deal  with  Pitt, 
The  Family  who  was  determined  on  war  to  the  knife.  The 
Compact.  English  minister,   however,   lost  the  support  of 

his  own  compatriots  and  was  overthrown.     With  the  help  of 

185 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

Charles  III  of  Spuin,  Clioiseurs  negotiations  were  successful 
and  resulted  in  the  celebrated  alliance  known  as  the  Family 
Compact,  signed  by  all  the  reigning  princes  of  the  Bourbon 
dynasty  in  France,  Spain,  the  Two  Sicilies  and  Parma, 
on  August  15,  17G1.  For  some  time,  in  spite  of  temporary 
quarrels,  the  interests  of  the  two  crowns,  according  to  a  time- 
honoured  expression,  had  been  effective.  The  Treaties  of  Madrid 
and  Fontaineblcau  had  sealed  friendly  understandings ;  but 
since  1748  and  the  accession  of  Charles,  King  of  the  Two  Sicilies, 
to  the  throne  of  Spain  (1759),  the  Bourbon  power  had  extended. 
Choiseul  had  the  credit  of  giving  definite  form  to  the  alliance 
for  which  preceding  generations  had  laboured,  and  more  especi- 
ally Louis'  eldest  daughter,  Louise-Elisabeth,  Duchess  of  Parma, 
who  had  died  at  her  father's  court  in  December  1759.  The 
Family  Compact  aiYectcd  Austria,  for  the  policy  of  Maria  Theresa 
was  bound  up  with  the  policy  of  Louis  XV.  France,  Spain,  and 
Italy  on  the  one  side  and  Austria  on  the  other  now  formed  the 
great  Catholic  league  conceived  by  Louis  XIV.  But  the 
Jesuits,  who  would  have  been  all-powerful  in  the  seventeenth 
century,  had  nothing  to  do  with  this  ;  they  were,  on  the  con- 
trary, almost  simultaneously  driven  out  of  the  dilTcrcnt  allied 
monarchies  and  their  order  was  even  dissolved  by  Clement  XIV 
in  1773. 

The  time  had  come  for  negotiations,  and  Choiseul  considered 
that  the  Family  Compact  would  serve  to  strengthen  his  hand 
Peace  i^  treating  for  peace.     He  was  about  to  take  up 

Negotiations.  the  Ministry  of  the  Navy,  intending  to  bring  new 
life  into  it,  to  repair  the  losses  of  the  squadrons,  and  to  show 
England  that  France  was  not  abandoning  her  maritime  power. 
Unfortunately,  the  cfTect  was  only  moral. 

The  campaign  of  176*2,  carried  on  during  the  progress  of 
diplomatic  negotiations,  need  not  detain  us,  since  the  belligerents 
Treaty  of  were  awaiting  events.     The  preliminaries  of  peace 

Paris.  were   signed   at   Fontainebleau   on   November   3, 

1762,  and  were  followed  by  the  Treaty  of  Paris  on  February  10, 
17G3,  which  put  an  end  to  the  colonial  war  between  France  and 
England.  France  retained  ncjtiiing  in  North  America  except 
the  town  of  New  Orleans.  In  tlic  Antilles  she  ceded  three  of 
the  contested  islands  and  only  recovered  St.  Lucia.  In  Senegal 
186 


THE    SEVEN    YEARS    WAR 

she  only  kept  the  Island  of  Gorea,  and  in  Hindustan  the  five 
factories  she  still  possesses.     She  gave  up  Minorca. 

Amongst  the  most  important  losses  was  the  entire  empire 
of  Canada  and  its  dependencies.  The  only  trace  of  French 
supremacy  left  in  that  beautiful  country  is  the  soft  speech  of 
the  early  settlers  of  the  seventeenth  century. 

The  Treaty  of  Hubertsburg  on  February  13,  1763,  settled 
continental  affairs  and  conceded  Silesia  to  Frederick  ;  there 
Treaty  of  was  no  other  change  in  the  map  of  Europe  ;    the 

Hubertsburg.  King  of  Prussia  alone  had  what  he  desired.  In 
return  he  promised  his  vote  at  the  Diet  of  the  Empire  to  the 
Archduke  Joseph,  Maria  Theresa's  eldest  son,  thus  giving  up 
the  idea  of  obtaining  the  Imperial  throne  for  a  Protestant 
dynasty. 

Austria  found  consolation  in  arranging  the  affairs  of  the  East 
with  Prussia  and  Russia  ;  she  was  to  have  a  share  in  the  parti- 
tion of  Poland,  and  no  longer  needed  to  consult  her  ally  of  the 
Seven  Years  War. 

France  remained  alone  and  impoverished,  to  contemplate 
the  loss  of  her  army,  her  navy  and  her  colonial  empire  ;  she 
had  fought  not  for  herself  but  first  for  the  King  of  Prussia,  and 
then  for  the  Queen  of  Hungary  and  Empress  of  Germany. 

Shortly  after  the  conclusion  of  peace  Louis'  statue  was  placed 
on  a  pedestal  in  front  of  the  swing  bridge  of  the  Tuileries.  The 
Statue  of  ffite  was  dull,  spoilt  by  the  bad  weather  and  by 

Louis  XV.  the  gibes   which   were    levelled  at  the  monarch 

himself,  who,  indeed,  was  little  worthy  of  apotheosis  at  such  a 
time. 

Principal  Sources.  Memoires  of  Duclos,  Bernis,  Rochambeau ; 
Frederick  II.,  Memoires  de  non  temps  and  Correspondance  ;  Correspondance 
dii  Giniral-Major  de  Martange,  published  by  Charles  Breard,  Paris,  1878  ; 
QfimiUeRousset,  Le  Comte  d^jQisorSj  from  the  papers  of  Clermont  and  the 
Military  Archives,  Paris,  1888  ;  Correspondance  secrete  de  Louis  XV,  pub- 
lished by  M.  j}.  Boutaric,  2  vols..  Paris.  1866. :  Macaulay,  Essay  on  Clive  ; 
Rambaud,  Histoire  de  Russie,  Paris,  1879  ;  Albert  Vandal,  Elisabeth  de 
Russie  et  Louis  XV,  Paris,  1882  ;  Soulange-Bodin,  Le  Facte  dejamille,  1894. 


187 


CHAPTER  XIV 

CHOISEUL 
1764-1770 

Death  of  Madame  de  Pompadour.  The  parties.  Expulsion  of 
the  Jesuits.  The  affair  of  Pcrc  La  Vallctte.  Tlie  Dauphin  and 
Choiseul.  Deatli  of  the  Dauphin.  His  eharacter.  Tlie  influenee 
of  Marie-Joscphe  of  Saxony.  Death  of  the  Dauphine.  Sadness 
of  the  Queen's  hist  years.  Madame  du  IJarry.  The  affairs  of 
lirittany.  Trial  of  the  Due  dWiguillon.  Resistance  and  exile  of 
the  Parliament.  The  Maupeou  Parliament.  Choiseul  and  Madame 
du  Barry.  The  cabal.  Spain  and  the  Falkland  Isles  (lies 
Maloitines).     The  kttre  de  cachet.     Choiseul  exiled  to  Chanteloup. 

A  HEAVY  task  was  awaiting  the  successor  to  tliis  careless 
and  indolent  monarch,  who,  though  not  lacking  in  intel- 
ligence, interested  himself  only  in  what  was  foolish 
and  futile.  A  diplomat,  the  Baron  Le  Chambrier,  for  many 
years  Frederick's  charg&cV affaires  at  the  Court  of  Versailles, 
has  left  a  remarkable  description  of  Louis  XV.  He  shows  us 
the  King  not  daring  to  trust  himself  in  the  affairs  of  government, 
"  persuaded  that  he  knows  nothing  about  them,  and  that  his 
ministers,  if  they  are  to  do  their  duty  properly,  must  not  be 
hampered  by  his  oj^inions,  nor  contradicted  in  any  of  their  reso- 
lutions." This  was  written  in  1751  and  what  was  true  then  was 
much  more  so  twenty  years  later,  when  a  woman  with  complete 
confidence  in  herself,  governed  France  and  had  the  satisfaction 
of  seeing  foreign  courts  apply  to  her  for  support  and  protection. 

It  was  supposed  that  if  Madame  de  Pompadour  disappeared 
the  ever-dependent  Louis  would  submit  to  some  nobler  yoke. 

In  March  17Gi,  business  was  suspended,  ministers  and 
courtiers  were  agitated,  and  nothing  was  thought  of  but  the 
Death  of  illness  of  the  Marquise.     Which  was  to  win — the 

Madame  de         Queen's     party    or     the     King's  ?      Would     the 
Pompadour.       Dauphin,  aided   by  his   mother,   gain    some    in- 
fluence?    Would  the  King  return  to  his  family  ? 
188 


CHOISEUL 

On  April  15  Madame  de  Pompadour  died,  fully  conscious, 
and  with  admirable  courage.  General  de  Fontenay,  the  King 
of  Poland's  ambassador,  has  given  a  very  graphic  account  of 
her  last  day  :  "  This  lady  never  made  the  slightest  movement 
of  anger  or  impatience  during  her  illness.  Two  hours  before  her 
death  her  waiting- women  wished  to  change  her  clothes.  She 
said  to  them :  '  I  know  that  you  are  very  skilful,  but  I  am  so 
weak  that  you  could  not  help  making  me  suffer,  and  it  is  not 
worth  while  for  the  short  time  I  have  to  live.'  The  same  day 
she  dictated  to  Collin,  her  steward,  a  document  four  pages 
long,  which  is  said  to  be  very  well  composed.  Seeing  that  he 
was  much  affected  as  he  wrote  she  begged  him  not  to  grieve.  .  .  . 
Many  people  whose  fortune  she  made  naturally  mourned  her 
death,  but  she  was  above  all  respected  by  all  the  poor  of  Paris, 
Versailles,  and  her  own  domains,  and  generally  in  every  place 
where  she  has  dwelt." 

The  King  was  greatly  distressed.  It  was  believed  that  he 
was  quite  unmoved,  while  all  the  time  he  restrained  himself 
before  the  world  and  hid  his  grief  under  a  mask.  He  pretended 
to  be  callous,  said  the  Due  de  Croy.  Did  Louis  say  the  often- 
quoted  words :  "  The  Marquise  will  have  very  bad  weather," 
when  he  was  watching  from  his  windows  the  coach  that  bore 
the  remains  of  Madame  de  Pompadour  from  Versailles  to  Paris  ? 
If  the  story  be  true,  it  does  not  prove  the  King's  indifference  ; 
it  shows  him  still  concealing  his  grief  under  this  frivolous  remark, 
while  following  with  his  eyes  to  the  last  her  who  had  for  nearly 
twenty  years  monopolized  his  existence. 

The  religious  party  hoped  that  the  Marquise's  death  would 
Expulsion  of  help  them  to  gain  ground.  But  a  blow,  long 
the  Jesuits.  foreseen,  was  struck  at  them  when  the  Jesuits  were 
definitely  expelled  in  November  1764. 

For  some  time  past  the  Order  had  been  attacked  by  the  Jan- 
senists.  Under  Louis  XIV  they  had  detractors  in  Pascal,  Saint- 
Simon  and  Noailles.  They  were  accused  of  ruling  the  majority 
of  the  Catholic  countries  behind  the  scenes  ;  the  education  of 
the  young  was  almost  entirely  in  their  hands,  since  the  numerous 
colleges  they  had  founded  were  superior  to  all  others  ;  they 
had  made  their  way  into  the  Courts  as  confessors  to  the  Royal 
families,  and  they  had  had  a  great  influence  in  important  diplo- 

189 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

niatic  ncfjotiations.  Tlicir  power  extended  even  to  Aineriea 
and  the  Far  East,  where  they  made  their  rehfrious,  poHtieal  and 
commercial  conquests  with  as  much  zeal  as  ability. 

They  laid  themselves  open  to  legal  attacks.  P^rc  La  Vallettc. 
the  Superior  of  the  Martinique  Jesuits,  had  been  a  victim  of 
Pere  La  English  piracy,  in  1755,  before  the  declaration  of 

Vallette.  war.     His  ships  were  captured  and  the  industrial 

settlement  that  he  directed  was  ruined.  He  failed  for  three 
million  francs.  Some  merchants  of  Marseilles  were  among  his 
creditors.  The  missionary  was  tried  and  condemned  ;  he  ap- 
pealed to  his  colleagues,  but  they  refused  to  assist  him,  and  re- 
proved his  proceedings  on  the  grounds  that  they  were  forbidden 
by  the  statutes  of  the  Order.  The  Parliament  of  Paris  interfered, 
and  ordered  the  General  of  the  Jesuits,  Pere  de  Sacy,  to  pay 
what  was  owing  to  the  Marseilles  creditors,  amounting  to  over 
a  million  livrcs.  Not  satisfied  with  this  victory,  the  magistrates, 
who  had  Jansenist  leanings,  took  action  against  the  Society 
itself,  and  after  an  examination  of  its  rules,  decided  that  these 
contained  principles  which  were  inconsistent  with  monarchical 
laws  and  even  with  Christian  morality.  By  a  preliminary  decree 
of  1761,  Loyola's  doctrines  were  condemned  and  the  Colleges  of 
the  Fathers  were  ordered  to  be  closed.  The  next  year,  in  spite 
of  tiie  elTorts  of  powerful  chanq)ions,  all  the  personal  property 
of  the  Jesuits  was  sequestrated,  and  by  1764  the  suppression 
was  complete.  Louis  was  for  a  long  time  undecided,  but  at  last 
he  gave  way  to  Choiseul.  According  to  the  Bachamiiont  rej)ort 
the  joy  of  the  bourgeoisie  and  people  at  this  suppression  was 
"  excessive  and  almost  indecent."  The  Jesuits  themselves 
confessed  that  the  people  were  stoning  them  with  the  stones  of 
Port-Royal,  the  destruction  of  which  had  been  their  work. 

The  Queen,  the  Dauphine,  the  Daupliin  and  the  l^oyal 
princesses  were  dismayed  ;  they  now  had  to  choose  tlic  directors 
of  their  consciences  from  among  the  secular  clergy.  As  for  the 
King,  he  tried  to  make  a  jf)kc  of  it  and  speaking  of  his  confessor 
he  said,  laughing  :  "  I  shall  not  be  sorry  to  see  P6re  Desmarets  an 
Abb6.'*  This  frivolity  was  one  of  the  most  remarkable  features 
of  Louis'  character,  apparent  even  on  the  gravest  occasions. 

Tiic  Dauphin  took  an  active  i)art  in  the  defence  of  the 
Jesuits,  but  he  could  do  nothing  against  a  minister  whom  he 
100 


CHOISEUL 

irritated  by  his  importunity.  Choiscul  once  said  to  him  in 
the  heat  of  argument :  "  Perhaps,  Monseigneur,  I  shall  one  day 
The  Dauphin  be  unfortunate  enough  to  be  your  subject.  But 
and  Choiseul.  certainly  I  shall  never  serve  you."  This  was  re- 
ported to  Louis,  who  said  to  the  Dauphin  :  "  My  son,  you  have 
so  offended  Monsieur  de  Choiseul  that  you  must  forgive  him 
everything."  From  this  conversation  it  is  easy  to  gather  what 
an  abyss  separated  the  King  from  the  son  he  was  to  lose  so 
prematurely.  The  last  years  of  the  reign  were  to  be  saddened 
by  a  succession  of  deaths. 

First,  the  Dauphin  died  at  Fontainebleau  on  December  20, 
1765,  in  the  thirty-seventh  year  of  his  age.  He  lingered  six 
Death  of  the  months  with  pulmonary  tuberculosis,  and  during 
Dauphin.  that  time  his  faithful  companion,  Marie-Josephe 

of  Saxony,  mother  of  the  three  last  Bourbons,  nursed  him  con- 
tinually. The  Dauphin  was  little  known,  but  after  a  life  of 
retirement  he  was  obliged  "  to  be  ill  in  public."  *  Every 
evening  he  received  the  first  gentlemen  of  the  chamber,  the 
great  officers  and  the  young  noblemen  attached  to  his  person. 
He  conversed  with  them  and  seemed  quite  cheerful.  In  the 
morning,  after  mass,  he  allowed  every  one  to  see  him,  even  the 
ambassadors  ;  he  asked  their  pardon  for  the  inconvenience  he 
was  causing  them  by  obliging  them  to  remain  at  Fontainebleau. 
His  words,  actions,  and  sentiments  all  proved  how  solid  were 
the  qualities  of  his  heart  and  mind.  He  was  extremely  con- 
siderate of  all  who  tended  him.  To  the  Queen's  first  physician, 
who  sat  up  with  him  one  night,  he  said  :  "  Ah  !  my  poor 
Lassone,  I  am  distressed  at  the  bad  night  I  have  given  you. 
Go  and  lie  down  ;  you  must  be  very  tired." 

He  excused  himself  in  amusing  ways.  To  the  Due  d'Orl^ans 
he  declared  :  "I  must  be  tiresome,  as  from  time  to  time  I  enter- 
tain  you  with  a  little  agony."  It  was  necessary 
for  the  Dauphin  to  die  to  be  appreciated,  and  the 
public  without  exception  expressed  sincere  regret.  Philosophers 
enlarged  on  his  liberal  ideas  and  summed  up  his  policy  in  his 
favourite  phrase  :  "  We  must  not  persecuted  They  loved  to  re- 
peat this  maxim,  forgetting  that  they  never  acted  up  to  it,  but 
only  replied  on  it  for  themselves.     Diderot  delighted  in  recalling 

*  Proyart. 

191 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

the  fact  that  tlic  Daiij^liin  had  disapproved  of  the  expulsion  of 
Rousseau,  saying  tliat  the  author  of  Em'ilc  was  a  man  to  be 
pitied,  not  to  be  persecuted.  Voltaire  liked  to  think  that  the 
Dauphin  read  Locke  during  his  last  illness,  and  knew  the 
tragedy  oi  Mahomet  by  heart,  "  If  this  age,"  he  concluded,  "  is 
not  that  of  great  talents,  at  least  it  is  that  of  cultivated 
minds." 

It  is  well  known  that  the  prince  used  to  say  in  speaking  of 
what  he  intended  to  do  later  :  "  ///  ever  have  the  misfortune  to 
ascend  the  throne.''''  He  would  say  also  that  the  people  would 
be  his  family  and  himself  their  head. 

Nine  days  after  the  death  of  her  husband,  the  Dauphine 
WTotc  to  her  brother  Xavicr  :  "  Scj)tcmbcr  29,  1765.  God  has 
The  Dauphine  "^villcd  that  I  should  survive  him  for  whom  I  would 
Marie-  have  given  a  thousand  lives.     I   hope  that  He 

Josephe.  ^vjn  grant  me  the  grace  to  spend  the  rest  of  my 

]>ilgrimage  in  preparing  myself,  by  sincere  penitence,  to  rejoin 
his  soul  in  Heaven,  where  I  do  not  doubt  he  is  asking  that 
same  grace  for  me." 

The  poor  wife  only  lived  a  year  after  her  husband  ;  she  was 
the  victim  of  her  devotion  and  succumbed  to  the  same  malady. 
She  left  three  sons  who  were  all  destined  to  reign,  and  two 
daughters,  Clotilde,  who  became  Queen  of  Sardinia,  and  Elisa- 
beth, the  unfortunate  sister  of  Louis  XVI.  During  her  widow- 
hood, she  took  charge  of  the  education  of  these  children  and 
wTote  instructions  for  the  Dauphin.  Her  chief  i)rcoccupation  was 
to  prepare  him  for  his  future,  and  she  told  him  to  meditate  on  this 
phrase  from  the  Memoires  of  Louis  XIV  :  "  Nothing  is  so  danger- 
ous as  weakness,  of  whatever  kind  it  be."  Did  Marie -Josephe 
foresee  how  much  need  her  son  would  have  of  such  advice  ? 

The  Dau|)hine's  constancy  gained  the  alTection  of  her 
father-in-law  ;  Louis  admired  in  others  the  virtues  he  did  not 
possess  himself.  In  the  year  17GG  he  was  under  the  beneficent 
influence  of  the  Dauphine.  The  Princess  could  have  had  the 
power  of  the  Marquise,  and  have  brought  i)aek  the  King  to  his 
family,  had  she  consented  to  a  reconciliation  with  Choiseul. 
Rut  on  this  point  she  was  inflexible  ;  she  would  sacrifice  every- 
thing rather  than  insult  the  memory  of  her  husband.  She  was 
able,  however,  to  obtain  some  favours  ;  amongst  other  things 
192 


CHOISEUL 

her  confessor  Nicolay,  Bishop  of  Verdun,  was  promised  the 
succession  to  Cardinal  de  Luynes,  Archbishop  of  Sens,  though 
his  attitude  to  Choiscul's  pohcy  was  definitely  hostile.  Little 
by  little  the  Dauphinc  would  have  gained  more  power  ;  she 
would  have  won  the  heart  of  the  King ;  he  would  have 
allowed  himself  to  be  ruled  by  this  new  Egeria.  But  Marie- 
Josephe  died  on  May  13,  1767,  and  Choiseul  immediately 
regained  all  the  favour  he  had  lost.  Louis  no  longer  had 
anyone  in  his  family  capable  of  guiding  him.  His  daughters 
were  not  clever  enough  to  take  up  Marie-Jos^phe's  part,  and 
the  Queen,  who  had  never  counted  for  much,  was  now  rele- 
gated to  her  oratory,  preparing  to  die  as  virtuously  as  she  had 
lived. 

To  the  great  grief  of  Marie  Leszczynska  her  father  died  in 
February  1766.  Stanislas  was  really  the  only  being  in  the  world 
Death  of  King  who  truly  loved  the  Queen  ;  his  letters  to  his 
Stanislas.  dear  daughter  are  almost  masterpieces  of  paternal 

affection.  To  quote  one  of  these  short  notes  would  be  to  quote 
them  all,  for  the  subject  is  always  the  same,  though  the  expres- 
sions differ  a  little.  They  come  straight  from  the  heart  and 
sing  the  praises  of  the  imcomparable  Maryneczka.  The  same 
refrain  recurs  all  through  in  phrases  such  as  the  following  : 
"  You  are  my  alter  ego  and  my  thoughts  are  as  near  yours  as 
my  heart,  since  I  live  only  for  you.  In  the  name  of  God,  keep 
your  dear  health,  it  is  all  I  care  for  in  the  world.  I  am  not 
young,  yet  I  would  fain  be  three  months  older  to  make  myself 
younger  by  the  pleasure  of  seeing  you.  I  kiss  the  tears  that 
you  are  shedding,  those  little  pearls  which  are  jewels  of  infinite 
value  tome."  It  is  thus  that  poetry  is  unconsciously  created. 
Stanislas  would  have  been  very  much  astonished  if  he  had  been 
told  that  these  pages,  yellowed  with  age,  were  the  most  sincere 
and  harmonious  things  in  his  life. 

The  death  of  her  father  on  February  23,  1766,  following  on 
that  of  her  son,  was  a  cruel  grief  to  the  Queen.  "As  for  me," 
Death  of  the  wrote  Marie,  "  I  am  sad,  and  shall  be  so  all  my 
Queen.  life.      My  only  consolation  is  the  thought   that 

those  I  mourn  would  not  wish  to  return  to  this  vale  of  tears, 
as  the  Salve  calls  it." 

Soon  after  this  the  Queen  began  to  languish  ;    she  was  ill 

N  193 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

for  months,  and  fell  into  a  pitiable  decline.  Like  a  forsaken 
flower,  she  died  on  June  24,  1768.  "  This  estimable  princess," 
said  the  Due  dc  Croy,  "  had  harmed  no  creature  and  deserved 
the  regrets  of  the  nation.  The  goodness  of  her  character  could 
be  seen  in  her  most  gracious  countenance."  Here  we  recognize 
the  model  of  La  Tour,  whose  delightful  portrait  in  the  Louvre 
perpetuates  her  calm  smile  and  reveals  the  resignation  she 
showed  both  as  woman  and  as  wife. 

At  this  time  the  King  encouraged  his  daughters  to  believe 
that  he  would  for  the  future  submit  to  no  new  yoke.  For 
two  years  he  gave  proofs  of  a  certain  consideration  for  the  queen 
and  showed  some  signs  of  remorse.  When  Lassone  came  to  tell 
him  that  Marie  was  no  more,  he  went  to  the  death-chamber, 
approached  the  bed,  and  kissed  the  forehead  of  his  hapless 
and  forsaken  wife.  But  he  soon  forgot  the  lesson  he  had  learnt 
in  the  advent  of  Madame  du  Barry. 

Blind  to  the  seriousness  of  the  revolts  which  were  threaten- 
ing the  royal  power,  he  entrenched  himself  in  his  divine  right, 
and  never  realized  how  that  right  was  discredited. 

As  an  example  of  his  folly,  he  allowed  the  Due  d'Aiguillon, 
the  Governor  of  Brittany,  to  receive  incoherent  orders  and  to 
The  La  Cha-  get  himself  into  the  most  ditlicult  position.  He 
lotais  affair.  annoyed  the  magistrates  of  Rennes  by  the  un- 
justifiable arrest  of  La  Chalotais,  the  Attorney-General,  who 
was  famous  for  his  struggle  against  the  Jesuits,  and  for  his  oppo- 
sition to  the  vacillating  policy  adopted  with  reference  to  Breton 
affairs.  From  province  to  province,  the  various  States  claimed 
their  prerogatives  and  clamoured  for  the  liberty  of  the  people. 
The  Parliament  of  Paris  unanimously  declared  itself  in  favour  of 
the  Breton  cause.  With  a  sudden  assumption  of  authority 
Louis  commanded  the  Parliament  to  be  silent,  saying  that  he 
could  not  tolerate  the  formation  "of  an  imaginary  body  " 
which  believed  itself  the  mouth|)ieee  of  the  country  and  the 
guardian  of  principles.  But  the  Due  d'Aiguillon  was  obliged  to 
retire  when  the  Parlementaires  of  Brittany  refused  to  deliberate 
and  the  judges  refused  to  try  La  Chalotais.  He  came  to  Court 
in  April  1770  to  vindicate  himself  and  to  solicit  the  judgment 
of  his  peers.  Louis  ordered  his  trial.  There  was  considerable 
curiosity  to  see  whether  the  evidence  given  would  justify  the 
194 


CHOISEUL 

accused  and  show  the  contradictory  nature  of  the  instructions 
he  had  received.  The  Parhament  sat  in  the  King's  presence,  at 
Versailles  itself.  But  there  were  only  two  sittings,  after  which 
Louis  stopped  the  proceedings,  removed  and  destroyed  the 
documents,  and  declared  the  Due  d'Aiguillon  immune  from  all 
further  charges.  The  Parliament  returned  to  Paris  and  declared 
the  Due  "  deprived  of  his  rights  and  privileges  as  a  peer  until 
he  should  be  purged  of  the  suspicions  which  stained  his  honour." 
The  King  quashed  this  decree,  and  at  the  instigation  of  Chan- 
cellor Maupeou  he  issued  an  edict  fulminating  against  the  Parlia- 
ments, their  insolence  and  their  illegal  claims.  He  asserted 
that  he  held  his  crown  "  from  God  alone  "  ;  that  the  legislative 
power  belonged  only  to  him,  supreme  and  undivided  ;  that 
there  were  limits  to  the  right  of  remonstrance,  and  that  the 
magistrates  could  "  set  no  limits  to  his  authority."  This  edict 
The  Parliament  was  issued  on  September  7,  1770.  It  was  duly 
in  exile.  registered,  but  the  Parliament  refused  to  reassume 

its  functions.  Consequently,  it  was  sent  into  exile.  The 
provinces  made  common  cause  with  Paris  and  everywhere 
the  agitation  was  extreme.  "  All  heads  were  turned,"  wrote 
Besenval,  "  and  even  in  the  streets  one  heard  cries  about 
injustice  and  tyranny."  The  Counsellors  of  State  and  the 
Masters  of  Requests  replaced  the  former  magistrates  and  repre- 
sented the  former  Parliament. 

Maupeou,  the  author  of  the  edict,  was  little  concerned  at 
the  public  excitement,  the  animosity  aroused  by  this  coup  d'etat 
and  the  opposition  of  the  princes  of  the  blood — Orleans,  Chartres, 
and  Conti.  Elated  by  his  victory,  he  took  no  heed  of  the  fact 
that  he  was  the  object  of  public  contumely  and  that  the  King, 
his  accomplice,  had  become  extremely  unpopular.  In  them- 
selves his  ideas  are  defensible.  But  they  owed  their  existence 
rather  to  a  hatred  of  the  Parlementaires  than  to  a  true  love  of 
justice,  and  this  is  a  sufficient  justification  for  the  strictures  of 
history. 

Such  was  the  origin  of  the  new  Parliament,  which  was 
supported  by  the  celebrated  triumvirate :  Maupeou,  Abbe 
Terray,  Controller- General,  and  the  Due  d'Aiguillon,  who  soon 
replaced  Choiseul.  All  three  were  staunch  supporters  of 
Madame  du  Barry. 

195 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

Choiscul  liad  succeeded  Bernis  owing  to  his  support  of 
Madame  de  Pompadour.  He  was  overthrown  because  lie  did 
Choiseul  '"^^^  seriously  take  into  account  the  favourite  who 

and  Madame  replaced  her.  He  could  not  believe  that  a  woman 
du  Barry.  of  such  humble  origin  would  succeed  in  having 

herself  presented  at  the  Court,  and  would  establish  herself  both 
in  the  Court  and  in  the  Council.  Madame  du  Barry,  aware  of 
the  contempt  with  which  Choiscul  and  his  friends  treated  her, 
resolved  to  overthrow  him  with  the  assistance  of  Aiguillon. 
The  cabal  easily  found  grievances  against  the  Minister.  The 
ground  of  the  accusations  was  an  unsuccessful  attempt  he  had 
made  to  found  a  settlement  in  Guiana.  He  had  sj)ent  thirty 
million  livrcs  in  sending  out  twelve  thousand  people  from 
Alsace  and  Lorraine  ;  but  practically  all  of  them  had  died 
of  fever.  He  had  taken  the  loss  of  the  French  colonies  to 
heart  and  had  hoped  to  retrieve  it ;  for  the  result  he  was  only 
])artially  to  blame. 

Choiseul  was  responsible  for  the  successful  conquest  of 
Corsica,  which  became  French  in  17G9,  though  it  must  be  ad- 
mitted that  the  \mdcrtaking  was  costly  and  was  naturally 
resented  at  a  time  when  there  were  loud  cries  of  poverty.  His 
enemies  did  not  lose  the  opportunity  of  making  this  a  grievance 
against  him,  hiding  the  fact  that  but  for  Choiseul's  prompt 
action,  England  would  have  deprived  France  of  that  valuable 
Mediterranean  island.  They  also  disregarded  the  twelve  years 
in  which  the  minister  had  successfully  maintained  the  new 
Austro-French  policy,  his  attempts  to  strengthen  the  army  and 
navy,  his  defence  of  Poland  against  the  menace  of  a  Russian 
invasion,  and  his  schemes  to  avenge  the  Seven  Years  War.  At 
least  he  had  commanded  the  respect  of  the  neighbours  across  the 
Channel. 

With  this  object — always  an  important  one  to  him — he 
had  decided  in  June  1770,  on  his  own  initiative,  to  encourage 
Spain  and  the  Spain  to  provoke  England  in  a  dispute  which  had 
Falkland  arisen  between  the  English  (lovernor  of  the  Falk- 

Islands.  land   Isles  and  the  commander  of  two  Spanish 

frigates,  who  had  come  to  protest  against  the  illegal  occu])ation 
of  the  Archipelago.  A  war  of  such  importance  would  have 
created  a  diversion.  Choiseul  would  have  been  indispensable 
196 


CHOISEUL 

and  would  have  escaped  his  enemies.  But  Spain  hesitated  to 
support  him,  and  he  was  obhged  to  reveal  part  of  his  secret  and 
come  to  the  Council  with  a  request  for  credits.  Terray  granted 
what  he  required,  wishing  to  drive  him  into  a  corner  and  force 
him  to  throw  oiT  all  concealment.  Choiseul  declared  that  while 
he  hoped  that  peace  would  be  maintained,  he  was  prepared 
for  all  eventualities.  Terray  had  no  intention  of  paying  the 
promised  eight  millions  ;  and  in  consequence  the  embarrass- 
ment of  Choiseul  was  assured.  The  cabal  was  triumphant  and 
accused  the  minister  of  being  responsible  not  only  for  the  war 
which  was  then  imminent,  but  for  the  inexcusable  resistance  of 
the  Parliament.  He  defended  himself  against  these  accusations  ; 
less  easily  in  the  case  of  the  first  than  in  that  of  the  second, 
and  this  made  Louis  waver.  The  King  did  not  know  whether 
to  support  Choiseul,  who  asserted  that  the  exile  of  Maupeou 
and  Terray  would  make  the  Parlementaires  quite  amenable,  or 
Maupeou,  who  assured  him  that  he  would  deliver  the  kingdom 
for  ever  from  their  remonstrances.  But  the  complaints  of  the 
favourite,  supported  by  her  partisans,  became  louder  at  the 
critical  moment.  Louis  yielded  to  the  solicitations  of  the 
"  dame,"  as  she  was  called  in  diplomatic  dispatches,  but  he 
hesitated  for  a  considerable  time.  He  kept  the  lettre  de  cachet 
intended  for  Choiseul  on  his  person  for  three  days,  fearing  it 
should  be  prematurely  delivered.  He  knew  of  what  his  circle 
was  capable. 

On  Christmas  Eve,  December  24,  1770,  in  the  morning,  the 
Due  de  la  Vrilli^re,  who  under  the  title  of  the  Comte  de  Saint- 
Choiseul  Florentin  had  frequently  discharged  similar  mis- 

dismissed,  sions  during  the  past  forty  years,  entered  the  Due 

de Choiseul's apartments  and  handed  him  the  King's  note  :  "I 
order  my  cousin  the  Due  de  Choiseul  to  place  his  resignation  of 
his  office  of  Secretary  of  State  and  Superintendent  of  Posts  in 
the  hands  of  the  Due  de  la  Vrilliere  and  to  retire  to  Chanteloup  * 
until  the  receipt  of  further  orders  from  me."  The  instructions 
given  to  La  Vrilliere  included  the  following  :  "  But  for  Madame 
de  Choiseul,  I  would  have  sent  her  husband  to  some  other  place, 
because  his  estate  is  in  his  own  Governorship.  But  he  will 
behave  as  though  he  were  not  there,  and  will  only  see  his  family 
*  Chanteloup  is  close  to  Paris. 

197 


T  II  E    E  I  G  li  T  E  E  N  T  H    CENT  U  R  Y 

and  any  others  I  permit  to  visit  him."  This  was  a  dcHcate 
coneession. 

The  event  caused  a  sensation  in  Paris  and  abroad.  The  Duke 
accepted  his  disgrace  with  courage  and  without  alTectation. 
His  numerous  friends  hastened  to  his  side,  and  there  was  soon 
a  large  number  of  coaches  at  the  door  of  his  house  in  the  Rue  de 
RichcHeu.  Many  people  came  to  write  their  names  as  a  last 
proof  of  their  esteem  and  aiTection  "  for  the  great  minister 
whom  France  was  losing."  Never  did  disgrace  do  more  honour 
to  the  victim. 

His  fall  decided  Charles  III  of  Spain  to  make  the  sacrifices 
demanded  by  England  to  secure  the  maintenance  of  peace  ;  but 
the  Parliament  was  sacrificed.  IMaupeou  was  master  of  the 
situation. 

Principal  Sources.  Correspondances  dcs  agents  diplomatiques  en 
France  avant  la  Rholution,  published  by  Jules  Flanimerniont,  Paris,  1896  ; 
M^moires  of  Madame  du  Ilausset  ;  Journal  in^dit  of  the  Due  de  Croy 
(1718-1781),  published  by  the  Vieomte  de  Grouehy  and  Paul  Cottin, 
4  vols.,  Paris,  1900-1007  ;  Memoires  of  liaehauinont  ;  Lcttrcs  in^dites  du 
roi  Stanislas  d.  Marie  Leszczynska  (1731-^1706),  published  by  Pierre  Boy^, 
Paris,  1901  ;  Correspondancc  secrete  entre  Marie-ThirHc  et  le  Cointc  de 
Mcrcy-Argenteau  avec  Ics  Icttres  de  Marie-Tht'rdse  et  de  Marie- Antoinette, 
published  by  the  Chevalier  d'Arneth  and  M.  A.  Geoffrey,  3  vols.,  Paris, 
1875  ;  Correspondunce  secrete  ini'dite  de  Louis  XV  sur  la  politique 
6trnnghe,  published  by  M.  E.  Boutarie,  2  vols.,  1866  ;  Mi'inoires  of  Bcsen- 
val,  (iectr^el,  Dumouriez.  and  Hardy  ;  Mhnoires  sur  la  mort  de  Louis  XV 
by  the  Due  de  Lianeourt  (in  Sainte-Beuve,  Portraits  Littdraires,  III)  ; 
Sorel,  La  Question  (FOrient  au  XV II I'  sieele,  Paris,  1878  ;  A.  Geoffroy, 
Gustave  III  et  la  Cour  de  France,  2  vols.,  Paris,  1807  :  Due  de  Brojrlie, 
Secret  de  Roi,  2  vols.,  I>aris,  1888  ;  Flamnierinont,  Le  Cfiancelier  Maupcou 
et  les  Parlements,  Paris,  1883  ;  P.  de  ^oWxac,  Marie- Antoinette  Dauphine, 
Paris,  1878  ;  Mauriec  Boutry,  Antour  de  Marie  Antoinette,  I'aris,  1906  ; 
Claude  Saint-Andrd',  Madame  du  Barry,  Paris,  1908. 


198 


CHAPTER  XV 

THE  DEATH  OF  THE  KING   ;>c 
1770-1774 

Marie-Antoinette  Dauphine.  The  Dauphin.  Marie-Antoinette's 
strength  of  mind.  Madame  du  Barry.  The  Princess  de  Lamballe. 
The  "King's  Secret."  The  Partition  of  Poland.  Choiseul's 
intervention.  How  Maria  Theresa  yielded  to  political  necessity. 
Louis'  indifference.  Maupeou's  reforms.  Goezmann  and  Beau- 
marchais.  Louis'  conversation  with  Maupeou.  The  King  falls 
sick.  The  intrigues  of  Madame  du  Barry's  faction.  The  fourteen 
representatives  of  the  Faculty.  Louis  criticized  by  the  Due  de 
Liancourt.  The  Archbishop  of  Paris'  intervention.  Dismissal 
of  the  favourite.    The  last  sacraments.    The  two  processions. 

IN  the  last  year  of  his  ministry  Choiseul  had  witnessed  the 
consummation  of  a  marriage,  for  which  he  was  chiefly  re- 
sponsible. On  May  16,  1770,  the  Dauphin  married  Marie- 
Antoinette,  Archduchess  of  Austria,  the  former  being  sixteen, 
the  latter  fourteen  and  a  half  years  old. 

An  English  prose  writer,  Edmund  Burke,  in  his  Reflections 
on  the  Revolution  in  France,  perhaps  best  conveys  to  us  the 
Marie-  poetic  impression  produced  on  the  Court  by  this 

Antoinette.  charming  princess  :  "  It  is  now  sixteen  or  seven- 
teen years  since  I  saw  the  Queen  of  France,  then  the  Dauphiness, 
at  Versailles  ;  and  surely  never  lighted  on  this  orb,  which  she 
hardly  seemed  to  touch,  a  more  delightful  vision.  I  saw  her 
just  above  the  horizon,  decorating  and  cheering  the  elevated 
sphere  she  had  just  begun  to  move  in." 

Bm'ke  only  saw  the  surface.  A  courtier,  the  Due  de  Croy, 
who  was  extremely  well  informed  as  to  all  that  happened  at 
Versailles,  describes  the  clouds  which  came  to  disturb  the 
brightness  of  the  heavens.  "  Madame  la  Dauphine,"  he  wrote 
in  his  Journal,  "  is  more  and  more  of  a  success.  Her  face  was 
the  fairer  for  her  graciousness  ;    she  had  charming  words  for 

199 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

every  one,  and  licr  curtsies  were  so  delightful  that  in  a  short 
time  all  were  pleased.  All  said  that  she  must  be  counselled 
to  remain  as  she  was  and  listtn  to  nollnnj:T  wlijcli  would  change 
her.  But  it  was  feared  that  it  might  be  said  that  she  over-did  it, 
and  that  if  she  changed  it  would  be  the  fault  of  those  around 
her."  These  fears,  so  awkwardly  expressed  by  de  Croy,  who 
was  not  so  good  a  stylist  as  he  was  a  psychologist,  were  only 
too  well-founded. 

It  would  have  been  natural  that  the  Dau])hin,  in  spite  of 
his  youth,  should  act  as  Mentor.  But  he  received  Marie- 
Antoinette  coldly,  he  was  heavy  and  ungainly, 
morally  and  physically  awkward.  Caraeeioli,  the 
Neapolitan  ambassador,  wrote  to  his  Court  where  Marie- 
Caroline,  the  Dauphine's  sister,  was  reigning,  that  the  prince 
was  not  handsome,  nor  had  he  any  of  the  fine  deportment 
of  his  grandfather,  and  that  he  showed  himself  "  boorish  and 
rustic  to  such  a  degree,  that  he  seemed  to  have  been  born  and 
educated  in  a  wood,  sclvaggio  e  rozzo  a  segno  che  stmhra  naio  cd 
edn€ato  en  un  bosco.'"  His  judgment  is  echoed  by  well-informed 
contemporaries.  However,  Caraeeioli  did  nf)t  fail  to  do  justice 
to  the  Dau])hin's  moral  qualities.  He  described  him  as  simple 
and  natural  in  his  conversation,  hating  lying  and  flattery, 
without  vanity  or  pride,  austere  from  principle  both  as  regards 
himself  and  as  regards  others,  the  friend  of  justice,  and  with  an 
excellent  heart  in  spite  of  his  rough  and  harsh  exterior.  In 
this  also  the  diplomat  was  not  deceived.  All  that  remained 
was  to  know  if  there  were  in  Louis  the  makings  of  a  king  and  of 
a  statesman.  Marie- Antoinette  did  not  find  the  support  she 
required,  and  she  complained  that  her  husband  had  only  one 
ruling  taste — hunting — and  to  this  he  sacrificed  both  his  private 
and  his  public  life.  He  was  not  a  lovable  husband,  and  he  did 
not  prepare  himself  to  reign. 

Louis     received     liis     granddaughter     graciously.     Marie- 
Antoinette  replied  to  his  affectionate  sentiments  with  a  formal 

X  «    ..        respect.     She  did  not  love  her  grandfather.     She 

Court  Parties.  i    ..+  .  i^     u  +i      r    ^ 

was  fmrt  to  see  a  Du  Barry  occupying  the  first 

place  at  the  Court  and  exacting  its  prerogatives.     Mesdames 

her  aunts  naturally  ])ersuaded  the  young  Dauphine  to  humiliate 

the  King's  friend  by  not  condescending  to  speak  to  her.     Maria 

200 


THE    DEATH    OF    THE    KING 

Theresa,  according  to  Mcrcy-Argcntcau,  the  Austrian  ambassa- 
dor at  Paris,  entreated  the  Dauphine  to  be  less  uncompromising, 
and  to  make  some  concessions  ;  this  was  poKtieally  expedient 
at  this  time,  when  the  fate  of  Poland  was  about  to  be  decided 
with  the  utmost  secrecy,  and  Maria  Theresa  was  about  to  betray 
her  friend  and  ally,  the  King  of  France.  But  this  queen  of  un- 
assailable virtue  could  not  have  grasped  the  extent  of  the 
scandal  at  Versailles.  It  might  also  be  questioned  whether 
she  really  understood  her  daughter. 

Marie- Antoinette  did  not  hesitate  between  the  two  counsels, 
but  she  followed  neither  to  the  letter.  Both  from  pride  and 
The  Dauphine  modesty  she  adopted  a  line  of  conduct  which 
and  Madame  could  satisfy  no  one  but  herself.  On  one  or  two 
du  Barry.  occasions  she  made  some  trivial  remark  in  the 

favourite's  presence,  but  she  did  not  directly  address  her,  and  she 
did  not  encourage  a  reply.  The  Dauphine  had  plenty  of  charac- 
ter, and  she  showed  it  in  these  delicate  circumstances.  Her  atti- 
tude towards  Madame  du  Barry  proves  her  virtue  and  candour ; 
she  did  what  was  demanded  of  her  by  her  mother  and  Louis, 
but  no  mud  stained  her  ermine  robe,  no  defilement  polluted  it. 

Marie- Antoinette  became  more  or  less  isolated,  sorely  though 
her  warm  heart  needed  affection.  Unhappily  she  could  find 
The  Princesse  no  consolation  in  her  mother's  letters.  The  stern 
de  Lamballe.  and  imperious  Maria  Theresa  estranged  her 
daughter  with  her  unreasonable  demands  and  ceaseless  scold- 
ings, admonishing  her  to  read  and  engage  in  intellectual  studies 
little  suited  to  the  life  at  a  Court  where  balls,  plays,  excursions, 
the  chase,  and  riding,  were  indispensable  distractions  to  the 
young  princess  in  her  isolation.  Marie-Antoinette  soon  con- 
ceived a  warm  attachment  for  Madame  de  Lamballe,  widow  of 
the  son  of  the  Due  de  Penthievre.  In  the  society  of  this  charm- 
ing woman  she  forgot  the  tyranny  of  etiquette  and  the  already 
growing  cares  of  politics  for  which  she  had  little  taste.  There 
were  many  complaints  that  she  would  not  abandon  herself  with 
more  complaisance  to  the  parties  who  fought  over  her.  At  this 
time  her  aunts  gave  her  the  name  of  "  the  Austrian."  That 
campaign  of  calunmy  which  pursued  her  to  the  foot  of  the 
scaffold  soon  began.  The  first  attacks  came  from  her  family 
circle. 

201 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

Maria  Tlicrcsa  was  obliged  to  rcsifrn  herself  to  her  daughter's 
Avill'uhiess  in  refusing  to  allow  herself  to  be  led.  The  Empress 
found  consolation  in  congratulating  herself  that  the  incompe- 
tence of  the  new  minister,  the  Due  d'Aiguillon,  who  was  inea})able 
of  grasi)ing  or  deciding  matters  of  business,  would  allow  the 
Court  of  Vienna  to  pursue  secret  negotiations  with  Russia  and 
Prussia  without  fear  of  interruption.  Louis  had  always  been 
interested  in  Poland,  and  it  was  thought  that  now  her  fate  was 
to  be  decided  he  would  defend  her.     But  he  remained  indifl'erent. 

For  a  long  time  the  King  had  had  his  Secret ;  he  had  been 
carrying  on  a  private  correspondence  with  the  object  of  check- 
The  King's  ing  the  encroachments  of  the  Czars.  These  pro- 
"  Secret."  ceedings,  which  were  unknown  to  all,  even  the 

favourites,  had  captivated  and  amused  him,  but  he  eventually 
g{^ve  up  the  pastime,  like  a  wearied  gambler.  He  had  pursued 
this  policy  for  nearly  twenty  years,  taking  pleasure  in  counter- 
manding the  ofTicial  instructions  of  his  ministers.  He  sent 
money  to  his  Polish  dependents,  often  considerable  amounts, 
with  the  object  of  influencing  the  royal  elections,  originally 
in  favour  of  the  Prince  de  Conti,  and  then,  when  the  latter 
quarrelled  with  Madame  de  Pompadour,  in  favour  of  the  Saxon 
succession.  Ultimately  he  came  to  wish  sim})ly  for  the  freedom 
of  the  Poles  and  a  return  to  national  kings.  But  he  did  not 
allow  liimself  to  be  disturbed  by  the  schemes  wliich  were 
nullifying  all  his  monetary  sacrifices,  and  his  often  skilful 
manoeuvres.  As  one  of  those  who  were  in  his  confidence  wrote  : 
"  We  cannot  but  admit  that  the  partition  of  Poland  could  not 
have  taken  place  but  for  our  negligence  in  preventing  its 
ince])tion,  and  the  insufficiency  of  the  means  we  adoj)ted  to 
arrest  its  course." 

The  original  idea  of  this  spoliation  came  from  Frederick. 
At  the  instigation  of  France  the  Turks  liad  declared  war  on 
The  Partition  Russia  in  17G0.  Hercuj^on,  Frederick,  who  was 
of  Poland.  disturbed  by  the  ()rogress  of  Russia,  made  pro- 

posals for  an  alliance  with  Joseph  H  to  maintain  the  neutrality 
of  Germany.  Austria,  on  her  side,  was  alarmed  when  the 
Russian  armies  invaded  Moldavia  and  Wallaehia,  and  she  pre- 
pared at  once  to  assist  the  Turks.  This  would  have  meant  a 
general  war  in  the  north,  for  the  Prussian  King,  who  was  tacitly 
202 


THE    DEATH    OF    THE    KING 

bound  to  the  Czarina,  asserted  that  he  could  not  abandon  his  ally. 
A  conference  was  held  between  Frederick  and  Joseph  at  Neustadt 
on  September  3,  1770,  where  it  was  decided  that  it  was  time  for 
mediation,  and  that  the  intermediaries  between  Russia  and  the 
Porte  should  be  themselves.  France  was  entirely  disregarded. 
Maria  Theresa  at  first  disapproved  of  her  son's  policy,  but  in 
the  end  she  gave  way  in  spite  of  the  treaties  which  bound  her 
to  Louis  XV. 

In  the  meantime  France  was  sending  Poland  money,  and 
even  some  adventurous  officers  like  Dumouricz  and  Viomenil. 
The  latter  were  handicapped  by  the  undisciplined  troops  placed 
under  their  command.  With  such  support  it  was  difficult 
to  resist  the  Russians,  for  under  pretext  of  protecting  the 
members  of  the  Orthodox  Church,  Catherine  had  invaded 
Polish  territory,  and  was  already  treating  it  as  a  conquered 
country.  At  this  juncture  Choiseul,  who  was  favourable  to 
the  Polish  cause,  was  dismissed,  and  his  successor,  the  Due 
d'Aiguillon,  made  a  point  of  not  following  his  predecessor's  line 
of  policy.  Aiguillon  essayed  a  reconciliation  with  Prussia, 
and  Prussia  made  pretence  of  listening  in  order  to  put  him 
off  the  scent.  He  became  the  laughing-stock  of  European 
diplomatists,  and  was  considered  to  be  "  blundering  along  in 
the  dark." 

The  negotiations  between  the  three  Powers  progressed, 
though  Maria  Theresa  still  hesitated.  Seeing  this,  Frederick 
Maria  Theresa  sent  one  of  his  confidants  to  Vienna  to  win  over 
and  Poland.  the  Empress'  confessor.  She  allowed  herself  to 
be  persuaded  that  she  ought  to  yield  "  for  the  good  of  her  soul." 
"  Thereupon,"  wrote  the  King  of  Prussia,  "  she  began  to  weep 
terribly.  Meanwhile  the  troops  of  the  three  Powers  entered 
Poland  and  took  possession  of  their  shares,  the  Empress  weep- 
ing all  the  while.  But  of  a  sudden  we  discovered,  to  our  great 
surprise,  that  she  had  taken  far  more  than  the  portion  allotted  to 
her,  for  she  wept  and  took  the  while,  and  we  had  much  difficulty 
in  persuading  her  to  be  contented  with  her  share  of  the  cake. 
That  is  what  she  is."  The  French  ambassador  at  Vienna, 
Prince  Louis  de  Rohan,  who  was  later  to  play  a  part  so  fatal  to 
Marie-Antoinette  in  the  affair  of  the  necklace,  confirms  this 
description  of  the  Empress'  attitude.     "  I  have  seen,"  he  said, 

203 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

"  Maria  Theresa  weep  over  tlie  misfortunes  of  oppressed  Poland. 
But  til  is  })rincess,  who  is  an  adept  at  the  art  of  not  allowin^r  her 
real  feelings  to  be  known,  seems  to  have  her  tears  under  control  ; 
with  one  hand  she  holds  her  kerehief  to  wi[)e  them  away  ;  with 
the  other  she  seizes  the  sword  with  which  to  carve  her  third 
share,"  This  letter  was  confided  by  Aiguillon  to  Madame  du 
Barry,  who  had  it  read  to  her  during  a  supper,  as  though  it 
were  addressed  to  herself.  Marie-Antoinette  could  never  forgive 
Rohan  for  having  ridiculed  her  mother  and  for  having  chosen 
the  favourite,  as  she  thought,  for  such  a  confidence. 

The  actual  Partition  Treaty  was  signed  on  August  5,  1772, 
when  each  of  the  spoilers  had  already  taken  possession  of  the 
Polish  provinces  allotted  to  them.  The  event  was  received 
at  the  Court  at  Versailles  with  indifference.  Its  significance 
was  not  understood,  in  spite  of  the  remonstrances  of  the  Comte 
de  Broglie,  head  of  the  secret  diplomatic  service,  who  said  : 
"  Tlie  position  of  Poland  as  regards  France  and  all  the  other 
Powers  of  Europe  is  that  of  a  member  cut  off  from  society, 
a  citizen  dej)rived  of  his  natural  rights,  reduced  to  slavery, 
civilly  dead,  and  in  consequence  no  longer  possessing  either 
property  or  personality  in  the  social  order.  Such  in  the  political 
order  is  the  fate  of  a  nation  once  called  illustrious,  which  has 
had  the  son  of  its  king  proclaimed  Czar  at  Moscow,  received 
the  homage  of  Prussia  at  Warsaw,  and  delivered  a  proud  and 
humbled  Austria  under  the  walls  of  Vienna." 

Louis  replied  :  "  From  the  distance  of  iivc  hundred  leagues 
it  is  diflicult  to  aid  Poland.  I  could  have  preferred  that  it 
should  remain  intact,  but  I  can  give  it  little  more  than  my 
good  wishes."  Through  all  he  adhered  to  the  Austrian  alliance, 
and  did  not  want  war. 

"  I  must  not  speak  of  Polish  affairs  before  you,"  he  said  to 
the  Dauphine,  "  for  your  relatives  are  ncjt  of  the  same  opinion 
as  ourselves."  With  this  astonishing  levity  the  King  allowed 
French  influence  to  be  destroyed  by  this  unjust  dismemberment 
where  the  strong  triumplud  in  defiance  of  the  law  of  nations. 
The  decadence  of  Turkey  and  the  anarchy  of  Poland  had  excited 
the  eovetousness  of  the  Powers  ;  but  they  preferred  to  agree 
rather  than  fight  with  one  another.  "Their  rivalry,"  says 
Sorel,  "  was  the  cause  of  their  alliance,  but  the  alliance  did 
204 


THE    DEATH    OF    THE    KING 

not  make  the  causes  of  their  rivalry  disappear.  On  the  con- 
trary, it  gave  them  a  new  stimulus,  and  the  only  effect  of  the 
treaties  of  St.  Petersburg  and  Warsaw  was  to  add  to  the  Eastern 
question  another  which  was  more  urgent,  more  serious  and 
more  menacing  still— the  question  of  Poland.  If  it  had  been 
possible  to  stop  at  the  treaties  of  1772,  the  Partition  would 
have  ranked  not  only  as  a  lucrative,  but  as  a  skilful  and  politic 
stroke.  But  history  docs  not  stop.  Facts  once  established 
bring  their  inevitable  consequences,  and  as  a  lasting  revenge 
of  right  against  might,  wrongful  deeds  and  immoral  treaties 
find  their  echo  in  the  inextricable  embarrassment  which  results 
from  them." 

The  dismemberment  of  Poland  mattered  little  to  Louis. 
The  internal  affairs  which  troubled  the  end  of  his  reign  left 
Louis'  him  equally  unmoved.     The  Maupeou  Parliament 

indifference.  excited  contempt  and  ridicule  and  alienated 
many  who  were  faithful  to  the  ancient  liberties  of  the  Parlia- 
ments. "  The  King  in  the  midst  of  his  own  Court,"  said  a 
diplomat  (the  Chevalier  d'Eon)  with  some  justice,  "  had  less 
power  than  an  advocate  at  the  Chatelet."  The  great  evil  was 
that  the  ministers  of  the  time,  such  as  the  Abbe  Terray,  the  Due 
d'Aiguillon  and  the  Due  de  la  Vrilli^re,  found  the  heavy  task 
laid  on  them  beyond  their  powers. 

Maupeou  established  superior  councils,  or  purely  judicial 
tribunals,  in  Paris  and  certain  provincial  towns.  Litigants  were 
Maupeou's  able  in  this  way  to  find  judges  in  other  places 
Reforms.  besides  the  capital  and  to  save  a  great  deal  of 

expense.  The  Chancellor  also  decreed  the  abolition  of  the  sale 
of  offices,  and  the  gifts  to  the  judges,  but  these  reforms  produced 
fresh  abuses.  If  offices  could  no  longer  be  bought,  they  were 
too  often  obtained  by  arrangement.  Meanwhile  Maupeou  was 
overwhelmed  with  satires.  But  nothing  did  so  much  damage 
to  his  authority  as  the  attacks  of  Beaumarchais  in  his  famous 
quarrels  with  Goezmann,  a  counsellor  of  the  new  Parliament. 
The  latter  was  accused  of  having  yielded  to  offers  of  bribes  in 
a  suit  brought  by  the  future  author  of  the  Barbier  de  Seville 
against  the  Comte  de  la  Blache,  heir  of  Paris-Duverney. 
Madame  Goezmann  had  accepted  a  sum  of  money,  and  when 
the  action  was  lost,  had  refused  to  return  it  in  full.     In  four 

205 


THE    EI  GUT  KEN  Til    CENTURY 

brilliant  documents  full  of  wit  and  spirit  but  also,  unfortunately, 
of  bad  taste,  Beaumarchais  brought  his  cause  before  the  bar 
of  public  opinion.  He  secured  the  condemnation  of  Goczmann 
and  his  wife,  but  he  himself  was  censured  by  the  court,  and  on 
the  day  on  which  judgment  was  delivered,  Fel^ruary  2G,  1771-, 
princes,  gentlemen,  and  ladies  of  quality  came  to  write  their 
names  at  the  house  of  the  brilliant  controversialist.  The  affair 
caused  general  indignation.  A  play  upon  words  found  i)opu- 
larity  and  was  passed  round  Paris  :  "  Louis  Fifteen  has 
established  the  new  Parliament,  fifteen  louis  (the  sum  in  question 
in  the  suit)  will  destroy  it."  The  King  liimself  in  the  end  was 
amused  by  the  incident ;  according  to  his  custom  he  spoke  of 
this  scandal  as  though  some  one  else  were  governing,  and  he 
were  an  enlightened  dilettante.  The  conversation  he  had  with 
the  Chancellor  was  reported  everywhere. 

"  Well,  well,  your  Parliament  is  getting  itself  talked  about  ; 
it  seems  that  this  Goezmann  is  a  bad  character  who  must  be 
got  rid  of." 

"  Sire,  that  must  not  be  attributed  to  me,  he  came  from 
M.  le  Due  d'Aiguillon." 

"  Yes,  but  they  say  there  are  others." 

"  That  may  be  so.  Sire  ;  it  must  be  so  even  :  the  new  Parlia- 
ment is  a  youth  sowing  his  wild  oats.  It  will  behave  wonder- 
fully later." 

"  Tiiey  said  that  this  Parliament  would  not  take.  It  is 
taking  well ;    it  is  taking  with  both  hands." 

Louis  was  trying  to  remedy  the  harm  by  making  jokes  ; 
he  retained  Maupeou  who  showed  himself  so  skilful  in  frustra- 
ting attacks.  But  a  very  serious  thing  occurred  to  decide  the 
Chancellor's  fate. 

Towards  the  end  of  April  the  King  who  was  taking  a 
holiday  at  Trianon  "felt  himself  troubUd  with  pains  in  the 
Illness  of  the  head,  shivering,  and  lumbago.  Either  his  fear  of 
King.  declaring   himself  ill,  or  the   hope  that  exercise 

might  do  him  good  led  him  to  refrain  from  altering  the  arrange- 
ments that  he  had  made  the  evening  Ijefore."  He  went  to  the 
hunt,  returned  in  the  evening  to  the  Trianon,  and  placed  him- 
self in  the  hands  of  Madame  du  Barry  and  Laborde,  his  body- 
servant.  He  had  a  bad  night.  Lemoine,  the  first  physician  in 
200 


THE    DEATH    OF    THE    KING 

ordinary,  thought  that  Louis,  who  was  always  incHned  to  fear 
death,  was  exaggerating  his  sufferings.  The  first  surgeon,  La 
Martiniere,  abruptly  ordered  the  King  to  return  to  Versailles, 
and  had  the  royal  family  warned.  They  were  at  last  permitted  to 
see  the  invalid  for  a  short  time.  Suddenly  he  became  worse. 
He  was  bled  twice  ;  a  third  bleeding  was  proposed,  and  it  was 
certain  that  Madame  du  Barry  would  be  sent  away.  The  young 
woman  tried  to  postpone  the  evil  moment  and  was  supported 
by  her  ministers.  The  palace  was  full  of  intrigues  ;  those 
in  power  tried  to  keep  their  places  by  hiding  the  truth.  Louis 
now  thought  only  of  himself  and  the  fourteen  representatives 
of  the  Faculty.  "He  would  have  hkcd,"  said  the  Due  de 
Liancourt,  "  to  augment  their  number.  He  made  all  fourteen 
feel  his  pulse  six  times  every  hour.  And  when  any  of  this 
numerous  Faculty  were  not  in  the  room  he  called  for  them  so 
as  always  to  be  surrounded  by  them,  as  though  he  hoped  that 
with  such  satellites,  illness  would  not  dare  attack  His  Majesty." 

On  April  29  the  doctors  noticed  red  marks  on  the  King's 
face  and  diagnosed  small-pox.  The  Dauphin  and  his  brothers 
Small-pox  were   forbidden   to   come   near   the   King.     The 

diagnosed.  King's  daughters  refused  to  leave  their  father, 
thus  defeating  the  intriguers  by  their  filial  piety,  though  their 
devotion  was  foolishly  ridiculed.  The  Due  de  Liancourt  as 
Grand  Master  of  the  Wardrobe  witnessed  the  King's  last  days, 
and  has  left  an  uncompromising  account  of  them.  He  gives  a 
grim  reason  for  the  little  effect  "  the  conduct  of  Mesdames,  which 
was  so  worthy  of  respect,"  had  on  the  Court  and  Paris.  He 
said  in  very  plain  words,  "  that  the  object  of  their  sacrifice  did 
not  deserve  such  abnegation,"  forgetting  that  he  was  speaking 
of  a  father.  "  The  King  was  so  debased  and  so  despised,  especi- 
ally the  latter,  that  nothing  that  could  be  done  for  him  could 
possibly  interest  the  public.  What  a  lesson  for  Kings  !  They 
must  know  that  though  we  are  obliged  to  give  them  marks  of  out- 
ward respect  and  submission,  if  we  are  forced  to  judge  their 
actions  we  avenge  ourselves  for  their  power  over  us  by  despising 
them  profoundly  when  the  object  of  their  conduct  is  not  our 
welfare,  and  does  not  deserve  our  admiration.  Indeed,  we 
did  but  judge  the  King  as  he  was  judged  by  all  his  kingdom." 

The  next  day  there  was  a  crowd  at  Versailles.     On  May  1, 

207 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

the  Archbishop  of  Paris,  hiiusrif  very  ill,  wtiit  lo  the  King 
and  found  there  Madame  du  Barry,  who  immediately  retired. 
Louis,  who  did  not  know  from  what  he  was  suffering,  told  the 
Prelate  to  withdraw.  For  the  next  few  days  there  was  con- 
siderable difficulty  in  preventing  the  Archbishop,  who  had 
taken  up  his  abode  in  Versailles,  from  entering  the  Palace. 
The  King  seemed  better.  He  was  in  full  possession  of  his 
senses,  and  spoke  "  in  his  ordinary  tone  of  voice."  He  was  so 
well  "  that  it  seemed  very  much  as  thougli  he  would  have 
a  wonderful  recovery,  and  that  there  would  be  no  change,  to 
the  great  dismay  of  Paris."  Madame  du  Barry's  circle  was 
triumi)hant.  But  they  were  soon  to  lose  all  hope.  Besenval 
tells  us  tliat  "the  crowd  of  rogues,  intriguers,  and  spies,"  with 
which  the  King's  courtiers  had  peopled  Versailles,  began  to  be 
filled  "with  great  alarm."  It  was  impossible  to  hide  from 
Louis  any  longer  that  he  had  small-pox.  He  had  to  realize 
that  this  was  serious  for  a  man  of  sixty-four.  At  last  he  spoke 
to  his  favourite  :  "  Now  that  I  know  my  condition,  I  must 
not  have  a  repetition  of  the  Metz  scandal.  If  I  had  known 
what  I  know  now,  you  would  never  have  entered.  I  owe  my- 
Madame  du  ^df  to  God  and  my  people.    Therefore  you  nmst 

Barry  dismissed,  go  away  to-morrow.  Tell  d'Aiguillon  to  come  and 
speak  to  me  to-morrow  at  ten."  The  King  arranged  with  the 
minister  for  her  departure,  and  in  the  afternoon  of  May  4, 
Madame  du  Barry  went  to  Rueil,  accompanied  Ijy  the  Duehesse 
d'Aiguillon,  who  had  offered  her  hospitality  in  her  country 
house.  About  six  o'clock  the  following  conversation  took  place 
between  Louis  and  Laborde. 

"  Go  and  find  Madame  du  Barry." 

"  Slie  has  gone." 

"  Wlierc  has  she  gone  ?  " 

"  To  Rueil,  Sire." 

"  Ah,  already  !  " 

In  lucid  moments  he  thought  only  of  this  woman.  He 
had  meant,  said  the  Due  de  Croy,  "  to  put  her  in  safety  some- 
where where  he  could  find  her  again  if  he  wanted  her,  to  spare  her 
the  insults  which  had  been  offered  to  Madame  dc  Chateauroux 
at  Metz,  and  if  it  should  come  to  the  last  sacrament,  to  have 
no  obstacle."  He  forgot  to  summon  his  confessor,  who  was 
'208 


THE    DEATH    OF    THE    KING 

waiting  in  an  adjoining  room  and  waited  there  for  two  days 
more.  The  Archbishop  of  Paris  and  the  Cardinal  de  la  Roche- 
Aymon,  the  Grand  Almoner,  were  also  watching.  On  May  6, 
they  were  able  to  say  a  few  words  to  the  King  who  answered  : 
"  I  cannot  at  present ;  I  am  miable  to  put  two  ideas  together." 
Mesdames  were  in  a  cruel  position  ;  they  were  afraid  of  alarm- 
ing their  father,  and  did  not  dare  to  interfere. 

At  last,  in  the  night  between  the  7th  and  8th,  Louis  asked 
for  his  confessor,  the  Abb6  Maudoux,  and  had  several  conversa- 
Last  tions  with  him.     Then  he  summoned  his  grand- 

Sacraments  children  and  made  all  arrangements  for  the 
administered,  eucharistic  ceremony.  Mesdames  were  to  re- 
main at  the  door  of  the  room,  the  Dauphine  and  her  sisters-in- 
law  in  the  Council  Chamber,  the  Dauphin  and  his  brothers 
at  the  bottom  of  the  staircase ;  the  servants  alone  were  to 
approach  the  dying  man  with  the  clergy.  The  Cardinal  de- 
livered an  exhortation,  and  the  King  communicated.  Then, 
going  to  the  door  of  the  room,  the  Grand  Almoner  addressed 
the  Court  which  was  assembled  in  the  various  apartments  : 
"  Messieurs,  His  Majesty  charges  me  to  tell  you  that  he  asks 
God  to  pardon  him  his  offences  and  the  scandal  he  has  caused 
his  people.  If  God  gives  him  back  his  health,  he  will  spend 
his  time  in  penitence,  in  supporting  religion,  and  in  relieving 
his  people."  On  which  Louis  said  :  "I  should  have  liked  to 
have  had  the  strength  to  speak  myself." 

There  was  a  slight  rally,  and  immediately  Madame  du  Barry's 
proUges  hastened  to  Rueil  to  give  her  the  news  and  to  assure 
themselves  of  her  favour. 

But  suddenly  the  King's  sufferings  came  on  again  with  re- 
newed force,  and  he  had  difficulty  in  breathing.  Abbe 
Maudoux  now  never  left  his  side  and  exhorted  him  to  be  patient : 
"  Offer  your  sufferings  to  God  as  expiation,"  he  said,  and  Louis 
answered  :  '*  Ah,  if  that  were  enough  it  would  be  very  little  ! 
I  would  suffer  more  than  that." 

How  totally  he  had  forgotten  such  sentiments  !  They  re- 
turned to  his  dying  lips  like  an  echo  of  the  words  he  had  spoken 
at  the  beginning  of  his  reign.  Between  these  two  periods 
Louis  had  stifled  conscience  in  pleasure,  trying  to  escape  the 
boredom  which  enveloped  him  like  the  shirt  of  Nessus,  and 

o  209 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

neglecting  all  his  duties,  especially  those  expected  of  the  most 
Christian  King. 

Extreme  Unction  was  administered  on  Monday,  ]\lay  U,  with 
gi'cat  pomp.  The  room  and  the  little  eamp-bcd,  with  its 
curtains  drawn  back,  were  lighted  by  candles  held  by  surpliced 
priests.  The  King  was  heard  to  say  Amen  in  a  firm  voice. 
In  the  midst  of  these  bright  lights  Louis,  exhausted  with  pain, 
looked  as  though  he  had  an  enormous  copper  mask  on  his  face. 
It  was  like  a  "  death's  head." 

Some  of  those  present  affected  "  more  self-possession  than 
was  necessary,"  practically  no  one  wept,  and  in  general  there 
The  two  "^vas  "  more  etiquette  than  sentiment."     In  the 

Processions.  marble  court  which  led  to  the  royal  chamber 
people  passed  the  night  waiting  for  "  the  proclamation."  The 
weather  was  fine.  On  the  next  day  the  park  was  filled  with 
people  walking  about  "  as  usual  "  and  the  cabarets  were  busy. 
In  Paris  there  was,  if  possible,  even  greater  indifference.  Louis 
was  still  able  to'speak  on  the  10th.  Then  at  three  in  the  afternoon 
the  death-agony  began.  Sixteen  large  state  coaches  harnessed 
with  eight  horses  immediately  took  the  royal  family  to  Choisy  in 
accordance  with  the  protocol.  In  the  Avenue  de  Paris  there 
was  a  large  crowd  acclaiming  the  new  King.  This  formed  a 
contrast  which  made  those  who  had  watched  the  sad  spectacle 
"  understand  the  vanity  of  greatness."  It  was  impossible  to 
exi^ose  the  body  at  Versailles  or  in  the  Louvre  as  was  the  custom. 
In  the  night  between  the  12th  and  13th  another  procession, 
composed  of  three  hunting  coaches  accompanied  by  guards 
and  pages  with  torches,  set  out  for  Saint  Denis.  One  of  these 
funeral  carriages  bore  the  mortal  remains  of  Louis  XV,  sur- 
rounded with  quicklime  and  encased  in  three  coffins,  so  great 
was  the  fear  of  infection.  This  funeral  procession,  said  IJesenval, 
was  more  like  "  the  transport  of  a  burden  of  which  men  were- 
anxious  to  be  rid,  than  the  last  duties  rendered  to  a  monarch." 
On  the  way  drunkards  sang  and  made  indecent  remarks. 

Louis  was  his  o^mi  judge  ;  he  said  in  his  will  :  "  I  have 
governed  and  administered  badly,  because  I  have  little  talent 
and  I  have  been  badly  advised." 

WJKit  eould  be  added  to  so- frank  an  admission  ? 

|Tlie  same  sources  as  for  I  lie  prfcetliiig  chapter.] 
210 


FOURTH  PART 
LOUIS  XVI 


CHAPTER  XVI 

THE   CORONATION 
177  4>-June  11,  1775 

Louis  XVI's  reception.  The  King  and  Queen's  bounty. 
Maurepas  returns  to  power.  Dismissal  of  the  Due  d'Aiguillon. 
Activity  of  the  Choiscul  party.  Vergcnnes.  Dismissal  of 
Maupeou  and  his  Parliament.  Complaints  of  the  Viennese 
Court.  Beaumarchais'  opinions.  Turgot,  Controller-General  of 
Finance.  His  first  interview  with  the  King.  The  Corn  War. 
The     rising    at     Versailles.    The     Coronation.     Enthronement 

ceremony. 

LOUIS  XVI  was  received  as  a  saviour.  Everything 
seemed  to  smile  on  this  twenty- year- old  monarch, 
whose  honesty  was  well  known.  He  was  simple  and 
charitable,  ready  to  reform  abuses,  to  look  into  the  finances, 
Accession  o£  and  reduce  the  sinecures.  Up  to  this  time  he 
Louis  XVI.  had  had  no  part  in  the  government,  and  his  tastes 
had  not  lain  that  way.  The  announcement  of  his  grandfather's 
death  caused  him  to  utter  a  cry  of  despair  ;  for  he  feared  for  his 
youth  and  inexperience  :  "It  seems  that  the  universe  is  falling 
on  me,"  he  said,  "  I  am  the  most  unfortunate  of  men  !  God  ! 
what  a  burden  is  mine,  at  my  age,  and  they  have  taught  me 
nothing  !  "  However,  though  he  was  unknown,  much  was  said 
in  his  favour,  even  outside  his  own  kingdom.  "  You  have  a 
very  good  King,  my  dear  D'Alembert,"  wrote  Frederick  II, 
"  and  I  congratulate  you  with  all  my  heart.  A  king  who  is 
wise  and  virtuous  is  more  to  be  feared  by  his  rivals  than  a 
prince  who  has  only  courage."  The  philosopher  replied  :  "  He 
loves  goodness,  justice,  economy,  and  peace.  .  .  .  He  is  just 
what  we  ought  to  desire  as  our  king,  if  a  propitious  fate  had 
not  given  him  to  us." 

It  became  known  that  on  May  20  he  had  received  one  of  the 
most  important  dignitaries  of  the  old  Court  unfavourably. 

213 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

"  Who  arc  yon  ?  ''  lie  said  to  this  individual. 

''  Sire,  I  am  called  La  Fert6." 

"  What  do  you  want  ?  " 

"  Sire,  I  came  to  receive  your  orders." 

''  Wliy  ?  " 

"  It  is  because  .  .  .  because  I  am  Steward  of  the  Menus.''' 

"  What  arc  the  Menus  .?  " 

"  Sire,  they  are  your  Majesty's  Menus  Plaisirs  (amuse- 
ments)." 

"  i\Iy  Menus  Plaisirs  are  a  walk  in  tlic  ]iark.  I  have  no 
need  of  you."     Whereupon  Louis  turned  his  back. 

The  new  king  sent  two  hundred  thousand  livres  to  the 
poor  of  Paris,  and  renounced  the  Joyeux  avencment  *  which  had 
cost  twenty  million  francs  under  Louis  XV.  He 
■  thought  only  of  the  public  welfare,  and  nothing 
of  his  private  interest.  In  the  preamble  to  the  first  ordinance 
of  his  reign,  he  said  :  "  There  are  necessary  expenses  which  may 
be  consistent  with  the  safety  of  our  States  :  There  are  others 
connected  with  the  Royal  Rounty,  which  may  be  susceptible  of 
moderation,  but  which  from  long  usage  have  become  the  sub- 
jects of  prescriptive  right,  and  therefore  can  only  be  subjected 
to  a  gradual  retrenchment.  Finally,  there  are  expenses 
which  concern  our  person  and  the  ostentation  of  our  Court ; 
in  this  case  we  can  more  promptly  follow  the  dictates  of  our 
heart." 

The  Queen  also  renounced  the  Droit  do  Ccinture  (The  Right 
of  the  Girdle,  i.e.  purse)  f  though  this,  it  is  true,  was  much  less 
important  than  the  Joyeux  avenement.  This  due  was  levied 
in  Paris  every  third  year,  and  originally  consisted  of  three 
deniers  on  each  hogshead  of  wine.  It  was  afterwards  increased 
and  extended  to  other  eonnuoditics,  such  as  coal. 

Louis  and  Marie-Antoinette  were  cheered  as  soon  as  they 
were  seen.  They  took  up  their  residence  at  the  Meute  (LaMuette) 
and  walked  daily  in  the  Bois  dc  Boulogne,  whither  all  Paris 
came  in  crowds  to  see  them.  One  day  the  Queen,  "  fair  as 
the  day  and  full  of  grace,"  went  there  on  horseback.  She  met 
the  King  on  foot,  in  the  midst  of  his  people,  ^vithout  escort. 

*  Joyful  Accrssion,  n  grant  pivcn  the  kinp  at  liis  accession, 
t  At  t)»is  period  women  wore  llic  purse  at  the  girdle. 
214 


THE    CORONATION 

She  dismounted,  and  Louis  ran  up  to  her  and  kissed  her  on  the 
forehead.  The  crowd  clapped  their  hands,  and  the  King  thus 
encouraged  gave  her  "  two  sound  kisses."  The  applause  was  re- 
doubled. "  They  assure  me,"  said  the  Due  de  Croy,  "that  it 
was  one  of  the  most  touching  episodes  that  has  ever  been  seen, 
the  more  so  since  it  is  long  since  the  nation  has  been  able  to 
give  vent  to  its  tender  feelings." 

The  enthusiasm  was  loyal  and  sincere.  Louis  XVI  tried  to 
deserve  it  in  all  good  faith.  He  "  barricaded  himself  with 
honest  folk,"  and  surrounded  himself  with  men  who  would  have 
the  courage  to  remind  him  of  his  duties.  The  same  idea  guided 
him  when  he  came  to  choose  his  ministers.  He  thought  of 
Machault,  whom  Louis  XV  had  always  regretted,  after  sacri- 
ficing him  to  Madame  de  Pompadour.  But  he  was  not  free, 
and  others  thought  for  him.  Irreproachable  as  his  intentions 
were,  they  had  little  stability.  At  this  first  serious  trial  he 
was  caught  in  a  trap  ;  the  Comte  de  Maurepas  returned  to 
power. 

Maurepas  had  been  disgraced  in  1749  for  having  written 
some  insolent  verses  about  the  Marquise.  He  was  born  in  1701, 
Recall  of  ^^nd  had  occupied  the  position  of  Secretary  of  the 

Maurepas.  King's  Household  since  1718,  so  was  said  to  have 

been  a  minister  "  since  childhood  !  "  He  did  not  lack  wit — in 
fact  he  had  too  much  of  it — nor  did  he  lack  intelligence.  But 
he  used  these  gifts  to  settle  even  the  most  serious  questions  with 
bons  mots  and  epigrams.  His  chief  pleasure  was  to  ridicule 
others.  He  had  considerable  experience  of  Court  life,  but  that 
was  not  enough  to  fit  him  to  direct  the  affairs  of  the  monarchy. 
He  was  deceptive.  Louis  thought  he  had  found  the  honest  man 
he  sought,  when  in  reality  he  had  laid  his  hand  on  one 
destined  to  be  disastrous  to  the  State. 

There  was,  perhaps,  no  reason  why  this  old  man  should 
have  been  appointed  save,  indeed,  the  persistence  of  the  Due  de 
Richelieu  and  the  Due  d'Aiguillon,  to  whom  he  was  related. 
These  latter,  with  the  assistance  of  the  Abbe  de  Radonvilliers, 
a  former  Jesuit  and  under-tutor  to  the  Dauphin,  secured 
Madame  de  Narbonne,  lady-in-waiting  to  Madame  Adelaide 
for  their  cause.  Madame  Adelaide,  as  "  favourite  daughter  of 
the  late  King  and  aunt  of  the  new  monarch,  was  in  a  position 

215 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

of  influence  in  the  early  stages."  She  joyfully  undertook  the 
intrigue  and  probably  dictated  the  following  letter  whieh  her 
nephew  wrote  to  Maurepas  :  "In  the  just  grief  which  over- 
whelms me,  with  all  the  nation,  I  liave  great  duties  to  fulfd. 
I  am  the  King,  The  name  imposes  many  obligations,  but  I 
am  only  twenty  years  old,  and  I  have  not  the  experience  I  need. 
The  certainty  I  have  of  your  probity  and  of  your  ])rofound 
experience  of  aiTairs  induces  me  to  beg  you  to  assist  me  with 
your  counsel.     Come  then  as  soon  as  possible." 

The  existing  Ministers,  who  had  assisted  at  the  last  moments 
of  Louis  XV,  were  as  a  matter  of  precaution  in  quarantine, 
and  the  intrigues  were  thus  made  all  the  easier.  Maurejxis 
returned  from  exile  at  Pontchartrain,  and  was  received  at 
Choisy  on  May  13.  He  was  content  to  have  the  title  of 
Minister  of  State  without  a  portfolio,  and  to  play  the  part  of 
Mentor. 

The  Due  d'0rl6ans,  and  with  him  Monsieur  (ihe  Comtc  dc 
Provence)  the  Comtc  d'Artois,  and  all  the  princes  of  the  blood 
thought  they  woidd  be  admitted  to  the  Council,  ])ut  they  w'cre 
disappointed.  This  ostracism  annoyed  the  King's  brothers, 
and  for  a  while  it  was  feared  that  the  Due  d'Aiguillon  would 
remain  in  power.  But  the  Queen  desired  the  fall  of  the  Minister, 
and,  in  spite  of  Maurepas,  he  was  compelled  to  send  in  his  resig- 
Dismissal  of  nation  on  June  2.  Marie-Antoinette  was  begged 
D'Aiguillon.  by  Mercy  to  overcome  her  antipathy,  but  she 
refused.  The  Austrian  ambassador  would  have  liked  to  sec 
d'Aiguillon  in  charge  of  Foreign  AiTairs  until  the  definite  conclu- 
sion of  the  Turkish  hostilities.  Fears  were  also  expressed  at 
Vienna  as  to  the  possibility  of  Choiseul's  recall,  for  his  supporters 
were  active  about  the  Queen.  He  would,  it  was  thought,  have 
interfered  with  the  new  Austrian  policy  :  his  "  restless  and 
turbulent  head,"  said  Joseph  II,  "might  have  thrown  the 
kingdom  into  the  utmost  difficulties."  Marie  Antoinette  failed 
to  secure  his  reinstatement,  but  consoled  herself  ])y  receiving 
Choiseul  at  Court  with  all  the  grace  and  charm  of  which  con- 
temj)orarics  speak. 

"Monsieur   de  C'hoiseid,'"  she  said,  "I  am  charnK  d   to  see 
you  here.     You  made  my  happiness,  and  it  is  right  that  you 
should  witness  it." 
216 


THE    CORONATION 

The  King  who  was  somewhat  embarrassed,  found  nothing 
Choiseul  to  say  but  :    "  You  have  got  fatter  ;    you  have 

received.  lost  your  hair  ;   you  have  beeome  bald." 

lie  could  not  pardon  the  Minister  for  having  intrigued 
against  his  father,  the  Dauphin, 

Choiseul  understood  that  he  was  not  likely  to  regain  favour. 
He  soon  returned  to  Chanteloup,  after  having  experienced 
indications  of  his  continued  popularity  ;  he  received  thousands 
of  visits  during  the  three  days  he  spent  at  Versailles  and  Paris. 

With  reference  to  these  two  events  in  which  the  Queen  had 
played  a  part,  Maria  Theresa  said  :  "I  have  noticed  that  in 
spite  of  the  deference  that  she  *  seems  to  show  to  your  counsels, 
she  goes  her  own  way  in  matters  on  which  she  is  prejudiced. 
I  was  struck  by  her  attitude  in  the  D'Aiguillon  and  Choiseul 
affairs,  and  especially  by  the  revengeful  spirit  she  displayed 
to  the  former." 

The  Due  d'Aiguillon  was  replaced  in  the  control  of  Foreign 
Affairs  by  the  Comte  de  Vergennes,   who  had  distinguished 

himself  as  ambassador  at  Constantinople  and  was 
Verp'ennes 

then  at  Stockholm.  It  seemed  a  good  appoint- 
ment, since  Vergennes  was  prudent  and  safe,  and  had  a  respect 
for  sound  traditions.  He  was  known  to  be  slow  in  making  up 
his  mind,  but  full  of  zeal  and  devotion.  "  The  Comte  de 
Vergennes,"  said  Choiseul  some  years  previously,  "  always  finds 
arguments  against  anything  which  anyone  proposes  to  him, 
but  never  has  any  difficulty  in  carrying  it  out.  If  we  asked  him 
for  the  Grand  Vizier's  head  to-morrow,  he  would  write  that  it 
would  be  a  dangerous  business,  but  he  would  send  it  to  us." 

Maurepas  congratulated  himself  on  this  choice  which  was 
inspired  by  Maupeou ;  every  change  in  the  Ministry  was 
anxiously  watched  by  the  latter  in  his  own  interest.  The 
appointment  of  the  Comte  de  Muyto  take  D'Aiguillon's  place 
at  the  head  of  the  War  Department  was  also  satisfactory  to 
the  Chancellor.  The  Comte  de  Muy  had  been  a  friend  of  Louis' 
father  and  was  one  of  the  heads  of  the  religious  party  who 
supported  the  new  Parliament.  Maupeou  also  had  the  satis- 
faction of  knowing  that  Turgot,  the  new  Naval  Minister,  had 
always  been  opposed  to  the  old  Parlementaires.     It  now  only 

*  Marie -Antoinette. 

217 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

rcmiuncd  to  replace  I.a  Vrillicre  and  Berlin,  \vlio  liacl  no  in- 
iluence,  and  Terray,  although  the  latter  -was  ready  enough  to 
support  any  party.  But  Maupcou  had  to  fight  the  Palais 
Koval  party,  the  Due  d'Orleans,  and  his  son,  the  Due  de  Chartrcs 
(later  rhilii)pe  Egalitc)\vho  olTcred  him  a  strenuous  opposition. 
These  princes  had  refused  to  be  present  at  the  ceremony  of  the 
"  Catafalque  "  at  Saint  Denis,  and  to  list(  n  to  the  funeral 
oration  of  Louis  XV,  giving  as  their  reason  that  they  did  not 
wish  to  meet  the  new  Parliament.  Consequently  they  were 
exiled  from  Court.  The  news  of  their  disgrace  excited  much 
feeling  among  Parisians,  with  whom  the  old  magistrates  had 
always  been  popidar. 

On  the  evening  of  July  2G,  the  King  and  Queen,  accompanied 
by  Monsieur,  Madame,  and  the  Comtessc  d'Artois,  passed 
through  Paris  on  their  way  back  from  Saint  Denis,  where  they 
had  been  to  visit  their  aunt,  Madame  Louise.  They  were  very 
coldly  received,  a  fact  which  they  felt  deeply. 

Maurepas  was  vigilant  ;  and  on  this  occasion,  he  gave 
evidence  of  his  powers  of  intrigue.  Although  Louis  believed  in 
Maupeou  Maupcou,  Maurepas  succeeded  in  persuading  the 

dismissed.  King  that  to  retain  the  Chancellor  and  his  tribunals 

would  cost  him  the  love  of  his  subjects.  The  Queen,  at  Maurepas' 
instigation,  put  in  her  word.  He  told  her  that  Maupcou  was 
the  principal  author  of  the  calumnies  which  had  been  spread 
about  her  with  the  object  of  causing  a  quarrel  between  her  and 
the  King.  She  used  all  her  power,  which  was  already  consider- 
able, and  Maupeou  was  exiled  on  August  24,  IT^k  The 
Chancellor  said  when  he  left  :  "  The  King  wishes  to  lose  his 
crown.  Well,  it  is  his  to  lose."  Terray  was  dismissed  on  the  same 
day.  Every  where  it  was  said  ;  "  It  is  the  Saint  Bartholomew  of 
Ministers,"  and  the  Spanish  ambassador  is  reported  to  hav^ 
answered  :  "  Yes,  but  it  is  not  the  Massacre  of  the  Innocents.", 

The  next  day  was  the  Festival  of  Saint  Louis,  and  there  was 
great  rejoicing  in  Paris.  Maurepas  was  able  to  tell  his  master 
that  the  ])eoplc  had  never  celebrated  August  25  so  loyally. 
The  manifestations  were  continued  on  the  26th.  The  new 
Parlenientaircs  were  hooted  when  they  left  the  Koyal  audience, 
and  in  the  evening  effigies  of  Maupeou  and  Terray  were  hung 
at  the  gallows  of  Sainte-Gencvi^vc. 
218 


\ 


THE    CORONATION 

Hue  dc  Miromesnil,  Chief  President  of  the  Rouen  Parliament, 
was  made  Keeper  of  the  Seals  ;  Turgot  was  transferred  to  the 
Controller-Generalship,  resigning  his  former  office  to  Sartine  ; 
Lenoir  accepted  the  post  of  Lieutenant  of  Police.  In  spite  of 
the  opposition  of  the  clergy  and  nearly  all  the  ministry  except 
Maurepas  and  Miromesnil,  the  recall  of  the  old  magistrates 
was  decided.  On  October  21  the  King  signed  the  letters  of 
The  Parliament  recall,  and  the  old  Parliament  was  summoned  for 
recalled.  November  9.     Three  days  after,  Louis  held  a  lit 

dc  justice  in  Paris  :  "  Gentlemen,"  he  said,  "  the  King,  my 
most  honoured  lord  and  grandfather,  forced  by  your  resistance 
to  his  repeated  orders,  did  what  his  wisdom  dictated  in  order  to 
maintain  his  authority,  and  to  fulfil  his  duty  of  giving  justice  to 
his  subjects.  To-day  I  am  recalling  you  to  those  functions  that 
you  ought  never  to  have  abandoned.  Realize  the  value  of  my 
kindness  and  never  forget  it.  ...  I  wish  to  bury  all  that  has 
passed  in  oblivion,  and  I  shall  be  much  displeased  if  I  see  internal 
dissensions  trouble  the  order  and  tranquillity  of  my  Parlia- 
ment. .  .  ."  At  this  sitting  the  Advocate-General  pronounced 
the  words  States-General.  The  King  gave  him  an  angry  look. 
The  Parliament  treated  the  grace  they  were  supposed  to  have  re- 
ceived with  arrogance  and  disdain.  They  retained  the  right 
of  remonstrance,  but  lost  some  of  their  other  privileges.  As 
the  King  and  Queen  left  the  Assembly,  however,  they  were 
frantically  applauded  by  the  crowd,  which  was  bitter  against 
Maupeou.  The  young  sovereigns  had  need  of  popular  applause, 
and  they  took  it  as  a  proof  of  gratitude,  not  foreseeing  that 
gratitude  would  be  short-lived,  and  that  by  making  concession 
after  concession  they  would  lose  their  kingdom.  The  recall 
of  the  Parliament  was  an  act  of  weakness,  but  the  King  was 
persuaded  to  it  by  interested  advisers,  and  by  the  supplications 
of  the  Queen,  who  wished  to  regain  the  goodwill  of  Paris.  The 
whole  policy  of  Louis'  reign  was  to  "  please  "  either  one  party 
or  another.  Louis  had  some  of  the  ideas  of  a  statesman,  but 
could  never  carry  them  out.  He  always  gave  way  to  Marie- 
Antoinette,  and  by  degrees  regular  coteries  formed  around  her, 
eager  to  take  advantage  of  the  inexperience  of  the  young 
princess  and  the  weak  character  of  her  husband. 

Contemporaries,  and  amongst  them  even  Royalists,  deplored 

219 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

tlic  situation,  "  The  ^v(1rst,"  said  Cioy,  "  is  that  it  was  seen 
that  with  a  thousand  thinprs  in  liis  favour,  with  much  good 
sense  and  a  just  mind,  tlie  King  would  allow  himself  to  be  led, 
and  would  not  learn  to  govern  or  act  on  his  own  responsibility, 
and  that  in  many  respects  things  would  be  exactly  as  they 
were  in  the  times  of  the  late  King." 

From  Vienna,  where  these  events  were  followed  with  much 
anxiety  and  interest,  Maria  Theresa  wrote  that  "  it  is  in- 
Remonstrances  eomjn-ehcnsible  that  the  King  and  his  ministers 
from  Vienna,  should  destroy  Maupeou's  work,"  and  an  Austrian 
diplomat  added  :  "  Certainly  nothing  is  more  desirable  than  to 
re-establish  order  in  the  administration  of  Justice.  But  the 
Empress  seems  persuaded  that  the  King  of  France  could  have 
arrived  at  this  salutary  end  without  re-estal)lishing  tiie  old 
authority  of  the  Parliaments,  which  has  so  often  shaken  that  of 
the  most  Christian  Kings." 

From  tlie  monarchic  ])oint  of  view  Louis'  error  was  great  : 
"if  the  King  had  taken  the  firm  resolution  of  maintaining  the 
work  of  his  grandfather,"  says  the  Due  de  Levis,  "  that  resolu- 
tion alone  would  Iiave  been  sullicient  to  consolidate  it."  The 
tribunals  would  have  been  purified,  and  would  have  shone  with 
their  old  lustre.  The  nation  would  in  time  have  given  them  its 
complete  confidence,  and  the  Ciovernment  would  have  freed 
itself  finally  from  a  recurring  cause  of  trouble  that,  in  fact, 
increased  instead  of  diminishing,  and  ended  by  dragging  down 
the  Government  in  its  own  overthrow. 

When  Louis  recalled  the  old  magistrates  he  created  the 
new  force  which  made  the  Revolution  and  by  degrees  gained 
Beaumarchais'  eontrol  of  France.  Beaumarchais  foresaw  it  ;  he 
Comment.  wrote  to  Sartine  on  November  14,  1774  :    '"It  is 

scarcely  credible  that  a  kinn,  ixveniy  years  of  age,  rvho  might  be 
supposed  to  have  a  great  love  for  his  new  authority,  should  fuivc 
loved  his  people  to  such  an  extent  that  he  should  give  them  satisfac- 
tion on  so  essential  a  jioint.'''  The  brilliant  controversialist 
realized  the  double  consequence  of  this  recall  of  the  Parlemen- 
taires — the  loss  of  Royal  power,  and  the  birth  of  a  new  supreme 
authority.  Turgot,  "  honest  Turgot,"  disapproved  of  the  back- 
ward step,  fearing  the  opposition  of  the  Parliament  to  the  useful 
and  healthy  reforms  he  intended  to  propose. 
220 


THE    CORONATION 

"  Fear  nothing,"  said  Louis  to  him,  "  I  shall  always  support 
you." 

The  King  was  sincere,  and  he  thought  he  was  master.  He 
had  the  greatest  confidence  in  Turgot.  In  vain  people  tried  to 
warn  him  against  the  exTntendant  of  Limoges,  and  his  dealings 
with  the  philosophers  and  economists.  Louis  took  his  in- 
spiration from  his  father,  the  Dauphin,  who  said :  "  Duties  of 
State  and  religious  duties  should  not  be  mixed."  He  also 
remembered  his  father's  reflection  on  Madame  de  Maintenon's 
animosity  towards  Catinat  :  "If  Monsieur  de  Catinat  did  not 
know  God,  he  was  to  be  pitied,  but  as  he  knew  his  own  business, 
an  army  should  have  been  entrusted  to  him." 

"Turgot  is  an  honest  man,"  Louis  had  said  in  the  same 
Turgot  spirit ;     "  that  is  enough."     And  he  made  him 

Controller-         Controller  of  the  Finances  in  the  place  of  Abbe 
General.  Terray. 

A  letter  from  Mile,  de  Lespinasse  to  Guibert,  written  on 

August  29,  1774,  tells  of  the  King's  first  meeting  with  Turgot : 

"  Then  you  do  not  wish  to  be  Controller- General  ?  " 

"  Sire,    I   confess   I   would  rather   have   remained   Naval 

Minister  .  .  .  but  it  is  not  to  the  King  that  I  give  my  services  ; 

it  is  to  the  honest  man." 

"  You  shall  not  be  deceived,"  replied  the  King  taking  him 
by  both  hands. 

"  Sire,  I  must  impress  upon  your  Majesty  the  necessity  for 
economy,  and  that  you  must  be  the  first  to  give  the  example. 
Monsieur  I'Abbe  Terray  has  no  doubt  already  told  your  Majesty 
the  same." 

"  Yes,  he  has  told  me,  but  he  has  not  told  me  as  you  have 
done." 

Turgot  represented  the  moral  energy  that  Louis  lacked,  but 
his  energy  was  not  supplemented  by  power  of  action  or  any 
sense  of  moderation.  Like  all  his  contemporaries,  Turgot 
voluntarily  withdrew  himself  into  the  desert  of  generous  ideas 
without  taking  any  human  contingencies  into  account.  He  was 
thought  to  be  contemptuous  of  public  opinion  ;  he  had  no 
knowledge  of  men,  and  reckoned  neither  with  their  passions 
nor  with  their  vanities.  He  wished  to  do  good,  but  he  seemed 
determined  to  see  it  in  his  own  system  alone.     His  friends  who 

221 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    C  E  N  T  U  RjY 

defended  him,  made  certain  statements  which  justify  some  of 
the  criticisms  :  "  He  was  thought  to  be  susceptible  to  prejudice," 
said  Condorcet,  "  because  he  formed  all  his  judgments  by 
himself,  and  public  opinion  had  no  influence  over  himy  Dupont 
de  Nemours  also  shows  the  weak  side  of  Turgot's  character. 
He  asserts  that  he  was  at  his  ease  only  with  his  intimate  friends, 
and  seemed  cold  and  reserved  to  all  other  men.  Between 
these  and  Turgot  there  was  always  a  feeling  of  "  mutual  dis- 
comfort," which  did  him  harm  on  more  than  one  occasion. 
Turgot  felt  that  the  task  he  had  undertaken  was  a  heavy  one. 
In  the  celebrated  letter  he  wrote  on  leaving  the  King's  cabinet  at 
Compi^gne,  he  declared  that  he  wished  to  avoid  bankruptcy, 
increase  of  taxation,  and  loans.  This  first  oflieial  document 
of  the  Controller  is  the  key-note  of  the  new  administration. 
The  problem  that  the  Minister  set  himself  to  solve  was  to  find 
a  remedy  for  the  poverty  of  the  people  :  "  Sire,"  he  said,  "  you 
must  arm  yourself  against  your  own  kindness  with  that  kind- 
ness itself.  Consider  from  wlicnee  comes  this  money  that  you 
are  able  to  distribute  to  your  courtiers,  and  compare  tlie  misery 
of  those  from  whom  this  money  must  be  extorted,  sometimes 
by  the  harshest  of  means,  with  the  position  of  those  persons 
who  have  the  greatest  claims  on  your  liberality."  Turgot 
seems  to  have  had  more  knowledge  of  men  than  he  was  given 
credit  for,  when  he  said  :  "  I  shall  have  to  struggle  against 
the  generosity  of  your  INIajesty  and  those  who  are  dearest  to 
you.  I  shall  be  feared  and  even  hated  by  the  greater  part 
of  the  Court,  by  all  who  look  for  favours.  .  .  .  The  people, 
for  whom  I  am  going  to  sacrifice  myself,  are  so  easily  deceived 
that  perhaps  I  shall  incur  their  hatred.  .  .  .  I  shall  be  slandered, 
and  perhaps  with  enough  appearance  of  truth  to  deprive  me 
of  your  Majesty's  confidence." 

It  was  the  ''  league  against  abuses  "  which  was  to  cause  his 
downfall.  Yet  he  was  confiflent.  for  he  was  a  staunch  Royalist 
Policy  of  and  trusted  to  liOuis'  intentions.     He  threw  hini- 

Turgot.  self  into  his  work  with  great  energy.     Among  the 

events  which  give  the  best  insight  into  the  new  Controller's 
methods  are  the  Corn  War,  which  reveals  him  as  an  economist, 
and  the  King's  Coronation,  which  shows  liis  political  side. 

On  September  13  the  Council  signed  a  decree  ordaining 
222 


THE    CORONATION 

the  removal  of  internal  restrictions  on  the  sale  of  corn.  A  law 
to  this  effect  had  existed  since  Machault's  administration  in 
1749,  but  it  had  not  been  put  into  force.  Up  to  this  time  a 
peasant  had  had  to  sell  his  corn  at  a  market  ;  he  was  not 
allowed  to  deal  directly  with  his  neighbour  or  his  landlord, 
and  was  forced  to  go  to  the  needless  expense  of  transport, 
market-dues,  and  warehousing.  These  exactions  offended  the 
people's  sense  of  justice ;  it  was  only  profitable  to  the  middlemen 
and  monopolists,  and  made  the  Government  the  arbiters  of 
poverty  or  wealth.  The  grievance  was  not  to  be  remedied 
without  difficulty  ;  abuses  still  persisted  ;  but  gratitude  is  due 
to  the  monarchy  which  showed  the  way  to  reform.  The  decree 
was  immensely  popular  ;  the  examples  of  Sully  and  Colbert 
were  recalled,  and  it  was  said  of  Turgot : 

Ton  nom  vole  avec  eux  vers  rimmortalit^.* 

The  words  property  and  liberty  lent  particular  eloquence  to 
this  edict.  However,  there  were  critics.  Turgot  was  made  a 
subject  for  ridicule  to  the  ironic  refrain  of  chansons,  chansons. 

Le  Grand  Ministre  de  notre  France, 
Dou6  d'esprit,  d'intelligence 

Et  de  raison. 
En  reformant  notre  finance, 
Repandra  pourtant  I'abondance. 

Chansons,  chansons.f 

The  Controller  needed  support ;  but  which  amongst  the 
different  Estates  could  come  to  his  aid  ?  He  could  not  ask 
such  a  sacrifice  from  nobility,  clergy.  Parliament,  or  financiers. 
He  only  had  the  people  and  the  King  on  his  side. 

Soon,   even  the   people   were   deceived   by  the   Minister's 

enemies,  and  they  abandoned  him.     In  April  and  May  1775, 

„,  «  ,„  the  dearness  of  corn  provoked  riots  which  were 
The  Corn  War. 

known  as  the  Corn  War.     Turgot  was  the  victim 

of  the  monopolists,  who  reduced  the  agricultural  interest  to 

poverty,  and  then  excited  it  to  revolt.     The  first  disturbances 

*  Your  name  takes  flight  with  them  to  immortahty. 

t  The  great  Minister  of  our  France,  endowed  with  wit,  intelligence  and 
reason,  whilst  reforming  our  finances  will  spread  plenty  around.  Songs  ! 
Songs ! 

223 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

took  place  at  Dijon.  Immediately  the  Controller  removed 
other  restrictions  on  the  sale  of  corn,  and  increased  the  facilities 
for  importation  in  spite  of  his  economic  principles.  This  to  a 
certain  extent  relieved  the  public  distress.  However,  riots  con- 
tinued to  be  organized,  and  spread  from  Pontoise  to  Versailles. 
It  was  obvious  that  some  one  was  t)ehind  them,  and  the  Keeper 
of  the  Seals  had  reason  to  say  in  the  Parliament :  "  The  march  of 
the  brigands  seems  to  have  been  organized  ;  their  approach  is 
announced  ;  public  rumours  state  the  day,  time,  and  place 
where  their  acts  of  violence  will  be  committed.  It  would  seem 
that  a  plan  has  been  formed  to  devastate  the  country,  to  intcr- 
ce{)t  navifjation,  and  to  prevent  the  transport  of  corn  on  the 
high  roads,  in  order  to  reduce  the  great  towns,  and  especially 
Paris,  to  a  state  of  famine."  The  rioters  sacked  the  granaries 
and  threw  the  corn  into  the  streets  and  rivers,  but  on  their  way 
from  place  to  i)lace  they  behaved  quietly,  as  if  they  were  under 
orders.  Many  of  them  had  gold  and  silver  in  their  pockets. 
According  to  a  contemporary  account,  they  were  evidently 
creating  a  fictitious  misery  in  the  midst  of  plenty. 

On  May  2,  the  army  of  "  John  Barleycorn  "  *  was  at  the  gates 
and  even  in  the  court  of  the  Chateau  of  Versailles.  The  King, 
Riots  in  protected  by  his  military  Household,  ordered  that 

Versailles  and  there  was  to  be  no  firing  and  no  violent  measures. 
Paris.  The  Captain  of  the  Guard  suggested  that  he  should 

retreat  to  Choisy  or  Fontainebleau,  but  Louis  wished  to 
remain.  From  his  windows  he  watched  a  hostile  crowd  for  the 
first  time  ;  he  appeared  on  the  balcony  and  tried  vainly  to 
speak  ;  then  he  went  indoors  in  extreme  dejection,  shedding 
tears.  Yielding  to  the  cries  of  the  populace,  he  proclaimed  that 
bread  should  be  two  sous  the  pound.  Thus  he  disowned  Turgot 
and  his  reforms.  "  Seeing  the  King's  grief,  the  courtiers  seemed 
also  to  be  affected,  but  beneath  the  surface  it  was  obvious  that 
many  of  them  were  not  displeased  at  the  event."  The  next  day 
Louis  intimated  to  Turgot  "  that  he  was  afraid  he  hod  made  a 
political  mistake  and  he  wished  to  remedy  it."  A  police  order 
forbade  the  sale  of  bread  above  the  market  price. 

On  the  following  day  the  (Hganizcrs  came  to  Paris,  and 
similar  scenes  were  renewed  there.     Some  of  the  squares  might 

•   "  Jcan-Furinc." 
224 


THE    CORONATION 

have  been  those  of  a  town  taken  by  assault.  About  eleven 
o'clock  in  the  morning  all  was  calm  again.  There  was  a  revival 
of  confidence  in  Turgot's  efforts,  and  in  his  co-operation  with 
the  King.  But  it  was  said  that  both  of  them  were  "unskilled 
in  the  wiles  of  courts,"  and  it  was  feared  that  Louis  "  had  not 
the  courage  of  his  virtues." 

It  was  necessary  to  make  an  example.  The  judges  of  the 
Chatelet  examined  the  persons  arrested  on  the  morning  of 
Trial  oJ  the  May  3,  and  condemned  a  "  gauze  worker  "  and 
Scapegoats.  a  master-hairdresser  to  be  hanged  in  the  Place  de 
Greve  for  having  taken  part  in  the  sedition.  The  blow  would 
have  fallen  with  more  justice  in  higher  quarters,  if  the  organizers 
of  the  Corn  War  had  been  handed  over  to  the  tribunal.  But  the 
King  refused  to  disclose  their  names,  and  the  affair  was  hushed 
up  by  order.  Perhaps  the  most  violent  of  these  organizers  was 
the  Prince  de  Conti,  a  personal  enemy  of  Turgot.  According 
to  Marmontel,  he  would  have  been  well  pleased  "  to  ruin  this 
troublesome  Minister,  from  whom  he  expected  nothing,  in  the 
King's  opinion."  The  name  of  Terray  was  also  mentioned,  and 
with  him  the  Jesuits,  the  clergy,  the  financiers,  and  the  English, 
but  the  immediate  cause  of  the  revolt  is  still  doubtful.  One 
thing  was  well  known,  namely,  that  Turgot  was  accused  by 
powerful  adversaries  of  wishing  to  cut  down  their  prerogatives. 
However,  the  King  was  victorious,  understanding  and  support- 
ing his  Minister. 

Strong  in  this  support,  Turgot  tried  to  make  some  altera- 
tions in  the  costly  coronation  ceremony  which  was  to  take  place 
Attempted  at  Reims  on  June  11,  1775.  He  was  frightened  at 
Economies.  the  expense,  and  made  some  suggestions,  as,  for 
instance,  that  the  coronation  should  take  place  in  Paris,  since 
Henri  IV  had  been  crowned  at  Chartres  ;  but  it  was  decided 
that  Reims  should  not  be  deprived  of  its  traditional  fetes. 
Turgot  wished  to  modify  the  following  phrase  in  the  Royal 
Oath  :  "  I  swear  ...  to  exterminate  entirely  in  my  States 
all  heretics  expressly  condemned  by  the  Church."  Louis  XIII 
and  even  Louis  XIV  had  eluded  this  formula  by  declaring  that 
they  did  not  include  Calvinists  among  the  heretics.  The  Revo- 
cation of  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  it  is  true,  still  existed  in 
the  national  archives,  but  it  was  very  much  impaired  by  the 

P  225 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

difl'crcncc  of  the  Rcfjcnt  and  Louis  XV,  in  sj)ito  of  having  been  en- 
forced on  rare  occasions.  For  a  time  Louis  XVI  seemed  attracted 
by  this  spirit  of  toleration,  but  eventually  he  gave  way  to 
Maurepas  and  the  clergy.  At  Reims,  nevertheless,  he  mumbled 
some  inaudible  words  when  he  came  to  this  part  of  the  oath. 

Some  of  the  formula?,  however,  were  abolished,  but  from 
motives  very  dilTerent  from  those  of  Turgot.  "  The  patriots 
The  were  annoyed  at  the  suppression  of  that  part  of 

Coronation.  the  ceremony  in  which  the  Monarch  seems  to  ask 
the  consent  of  the  jnople.  However  vain  this  ridiculous  formula 
may  appear,  it  was  considered  a  mistake,  a  very  great  mistake  on 
the  part  of  the  clergy,  for  whom  this  pious  spectacle  seems  to  be 
made,  to  cut  the  other  part  entirely  out  of  the  ceremony  and 
retain  only  that  which  primarily  concerned  themselves."  Here, 
again,  the  eternal  struggle  between  the  political  and  the  clerical 
power  came  into  play.  In  his  Essai  sur  la  Tolerance,  Turgot 
insists  that  these  two  powers  should  not  be  confused,  and  should 
each  remain  in  its  own  sphere.  He  deplored  the  fact  that  the 
same  doctrine  could  have  produced  the  Saint  Bartholomew  and 
the  League,  "  alternately  putting  the  dagger  into  the  King's 
hands  to  kill  the  people,  and  into  the  people's  hand  to  assassinate 
the  king." 

These  details  are  necessary  to  a  correct  understanding  of 
the  philosophic  movement  and  the  forernnucrs  of  the  Revolution. 
The  Enthrone-  I^^it  it  must  not  be  supposed  that  the  nation  had 
ment.  forgotten  its  loyalty   to  the  monarchy,  for  that 

loyalty  was  still  strong  and  vigorous  except  in  the  case  of  cer- 
tain reformers,  such  as  Voltaire  and  D'Alembert.  All  the  love 
which  the  people  felt  for  their  King  was  shown  at  the  coronation. 
It  had  lately  become  the  custom  to  greet  the  King  whether  in  the 
theatre  or  in  the  street  with  cheers  and  apj)lause  ;  and  now  at 
the  time  of  the  enthronement,  near  the  end  of  the  long  ceremony, 
when  the  great  door  was  thrown  open,  and  even  the  people 
without  were  able  to  see  the  King  ascend  a  throne  placed  in  the 
centre  of  the  screen,  loud  cheers  were  heard  in  the  close  outside, 
and  even  in  the  interior  of  the  cathedral  itself.  The  people 
thronged  in ;  birds  were  set  free,  singing  as  they  soared, 
harmonics  which  were  soon  drowned  by  the  trumpets,  the  firing 
of  muskets,  and  the  joyful  peals  of  the  bells  in  the  town. 
22G 


THE    CORONATION 

Louis  had  been  wearied  by  the  interminable  ceremony, 
and  had  found  his  crown  heavy  and  uncomfortable,  but  when 
he  heard  the  shouts  and  the  noise  he  began  to  share  the  general 
emotion.  He  was  now  robed  in  all  his  royal  splendour  ;  he 
wore  the  great  violet  mantle,  ornamented  with  fleurs-de-lys 
and  lined  with  ermine,  and  he  held  the  sceptre  and  hand  of 
justice.  The  cathedral  glittered  with  gold  and  jewels  beneath 
the  light  of  countless  candles.  Majesty  was  present  both  in 
symbol  and  in  reality  at  the  moment  when  its  representative 
was  thus  acclaimed. 

"  I  know,"  said  the  Due  de  Croy,  "that  I  have  never  felt 
such  enthusiasm  ;  I  was  astonished  to  find  tears  in  my  eyes.  .  .  . 
Emotion  o£  The  Queen  was  so  overcome  ^vith  pleasure  that 
the  Queen.  her  tears  flowed  in  torrents.  .  .  ."  Marie-An- 
toinette tells  of  this  day  in  a  letter  to  her  mother,  in  which  she 
speaks  of  her  emotion  and  of  the  enthusiasm  of  their  subjects 
both  "  great  and  small  "  at  the  sublime  moment  when  Louis  XVI 
ascended  the  throne  of  his  ancestors. 

Principal  Sources.  Besides  most  of  the  works  cited  in  Chapter 
XIV,  the  Memoir es  or  Correspondances  of  Voltaire,  Marmontel,  Mile,  de 
Lespinasse,  Jacob-Nicolas  Moreau,  Augeard,  Weber,  Dupont  de  Nemours 
and  Madame  Campan, — Correspondence  attributed  to  Metra ;  Abbe 
Baudeau,  Chronique  secrete  de  Paris  sous  Louis  XVI,  in  Revue  retro- 
spective, III ;  Souvenirs  et  Portraits  of  the  Due  de  Levis  ;  Abbe  Proyart, 
Louis  XVI,  juge  par  ses  vertus  ;  Droz,  Histoire  du  regne  de  Louis  XVI, 
1859  ;  Condorcet,  Vie  de  Turgot ;  Foncin,  Essai  sur  le  ministire  de  Turgot, 
1877  ;  P.  de  Nolhac,  La  Reine  Marie- Antoinette. 


227 


CHAPTER  XVII 

THE  QUEEN'S  SURROUNDINGS 
1775-1776 

Marie-Antoinette  and  Choiseul.  The  affair  of  the  Comte  de 
Guines.  The  Princess  de  Lamballe,  Superintendent  of  the 
Queen's  Household.  Joseph  II  reprimands  his  sister.  The 
Sovereign's  family  life.  The  King's  brothers.  Their  wives. 
The  royal  aunts.  The  Queen's  friends.  Madame  de  Lamballe. 
Madame  dc  Polignac.  Besenval,  Adhemar,  and  Vaudreuil. 
Favours  granted  to  the  Polignacs.  Songs  and  satires.  Portraits 
of  the  Queen  by  Walpole  and  Tilly.  Intrigiies  against  Turgot. 
The  Edicts.  Retirement  of  the  Controller-General.  Resigna- 
tion of  Malesherbes.  The  Comte  de  Saint-Germain  and  his 
decrees.     Maurepas'  raanocuvTcs.     A  monarcliic  crisis. 

THE  Queen  tried  to  bring  Choiseul  back  into  power  at 
the  time  of  the  coronation.  She  congratulated  her- 
self on  having  obtained  permission  from  the  King  to 
interview  the  ex-minister,  as  she  confided  to  the  Comte  de 
The  Queen  and  Rosenberg  :  "  You  will  perhaps  have  heard  of 
Choiseul.  the  audience  I  granted  Choiseul  at  Reims.     It  was 

so  much  talked  about  that  I  do  not  doubt  that  old  Maurepas 
was  afraid  to  go  home  and  rest.  You  will,  of  course,  guess  that 
I  did  not  see  him  without  speaking  to  the  King  about  it,  but 
you  cannot  imagine  what  skill  I  employed  so  as  not  to  appear 
to  be  asking  permission.  I  told  him  that  I  wished  to  sec 
Monsieur  de  Choiseul,  and  that  I  could  not  think  which  day  would 
be  most  convenient.  I  was  so  successful  that  the  jioor  man 
himself  arranged  the  most  convenient  time  for  the  interview. 
I  think  I  used  a  woman's  power  at  that  moment."  This  cele- 
brated letter  came  into  the  hands  of  Maria  Theresa,  who  sent 
a  copy  of  it  to  Mercy  with  this  comment :  "  What  a  style  I 
What  an  attitude  of  mind  !  This  only  confirms  my  anxiety. 
She  [my  daughter]  is  running  straight  to  ruin,  and  she  will  be 
228 


THE    QUEEN'S    SURROUNDINGS 

lucky  if  in  her  downfall  she  is  able  to  keep  the  virtues  proper  to 
her  rank.  If  Choiseul  becomes  Minister,  she  is  lost.  He  will  take 
less  heed  of  her  than  of  the  Pompadour,  to  whom  he  owed  every- 
thing." Marie-Antoinette's  brother,  the  Emperor  Joseph  JI, 
sent  her  so  violent  a  rebuke  on  this  subject  that  Maria  Theresa 
had  it  stopped,  but  the  document  has  been  preserved.  His 
bitter  reproaches  refer  to  facts  which  must  be  noted. 

It  was  decided  that  the  Due  de  la  Vrilli^re  was  to  retire. 
This  Minister,  an  object  of  general  contempt,  was  only  supported 
by  his  sister,  the  Comtesse  de  Maurepas.  He  was  the  last  repre- 
sentative of  the  Court  of  Louis  XV,  and  had  been  in  office  for 
fifty-five  years.  The  Queen  had  pressed  Louis  to  send  him 
away,  since  she  wished  to  put  Sartine  in  his  place,  but  much 
to  her  displeasure  Malesherbes,  a  friend  of  Turgot,  was  made 
Governor  of  the  King's  Household.  The  Queen,  however,  was 
satisfied  on  other  points.  At  her  instigation  the  Due  d'Aiguillon 
was  definitely  exiled  to  Gascony.  "  This  departure  was  entirely 
my  work,"  she  wrote  to  Rosenberg;  "the  measure  was  full 
to  overflowing  ;  this  dreadful  man  indulged  in  all  sorts  of 
espionage  and  evil  talk."  She  extricated  the  Comte  de  Guines, 
The  De  Guines  a  proUgS  of  Choiseul,  who  was  French  Ambassador 
Affair.  in  London,  from  a  grave  scandal.     Guines  was 

accused  of  using  State  secrets  in  order  to  gamble  on  the  Stock 
Exchange,  and  of  disowning  his  creditors  to  avoid  paying  his 
debts.  To  clear  himself,  he  asked  to  be  allowed  to  insert  in  his 
defence  certain  passages  from  his  official  correspondence. 
Vergennes  and  all  the  Ministers  opposed  this  demand,  saying 
that  if  they  were  to  allow  it  no  foreign  Minister  would  ever  dare 
make  confidential  communications  to  the  Government.  But 
the  Queen  supported  Guines  against  D'Aiguillon  who  desired  his 
ruin.  In  spite  of  the  vote  of  the  Council  the  King  yielded  to 
repeated  requests  and  gave  the  ambassador  the  permission  he 
desired.  Here,  as  on  more  serious  occasions,  Louis  allowed  him- 
self to  be  led.  He  was  sometimes  obstinate,  but  never  strong- 
willed.  Guines  won  his  case,  which  was  tried  by  the  Parlia- 
The  Prineesse  ment  in  June  1775.  The  Queen  gained  another 
de  Lamballe.  victory  by  reviving  the  extravagant  post  of  Super- 
intendent of  her  Household  in  favour  of  the  Prineesse  de 
Lamballe,  just  when  Turgot   was   finding  extreme  difficulty 

229 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

in  restoring  order  to  the  finances.  Tlie  jniblic  grumbled ; 
all  these  intrigues,  exaggerated  and  wilfully  miseonstrued, 
greatly  alarmed  the  Emperor.  Consequently  Joseph  resorted 
to  threats  :  "  Why  do  you  interfere,  my  dear  sister,"  lie  wrote, 
"  dismissing  ministers,  sending  one  back  to  his  estates,  giving 
ofllee  to  this  or  that  one,  helping  another  to  win  his  case,  and 
creating  a  new  expensive  post  at  your  Court  ?  Have  you  ever 
asked  yourself  by  what  right  you  thus  intervene  in  the  alTairs 
of  the  French  Government  and  Monarchy  ?  You,  a  charming 
young  girl,  thinking  only  of  frivolity,  your  toilet,  and  your 
amusements  all  the  day  long,  who  do  not  read  or  listen  to  sense 
for  one  quarter  of  an  liour  in  a  month,  who,  I  am  sure,  neither 
reflect  nor  meditate  nor  try  to  weigh  tlie  consequences  of  what 
you  do  or  say  !  The  impulse  of  the  moment  is  tlie  only  reason 
for  your  actions.  The  statements  and  arguments  of  your 
favourites  win  your  credence  and  are  your  only  guides."  The 
Emperor,  in  this  respect,  touched  the  true  source  of  the  evil  ; 
})eoj)le  took  advantage  of  the  Queen,  her  inexperience,  her 
kindness,  and  her  desire  to  please. 

The  question  of  persons  was  the  primary  consideration  in 
oil  the  intrigues  in  which  Marie-Antionette  imprudently  took 
part.  She  thus  established  a  party  at  Court  which  used  her  as 
its  tool,  a  secret  ministry  whose  only  principle  was  to  secure 
places,  sinecures,  and  reversions  to  the  detriment  of  those  who 
might  have  been  of  use  to  the  State.  Marie-Antoinette  should 
never  have  allowed  herself  to  play  so  dangerous  a  part. 

Marie-Antoinette's  position  as  Queen  was,  until  1778,  as 
difficult  as  it  had  been  as  Dauphiness,  and  for  the  same  reasons. 
The  Queen's  The  King,  as  always,  was  shy  and  undemon- 
youthful  strative  ;   Mercy  complains  that  IMaric-Antoinettc 

Frivolity.  "  formed  too  poor  an  idea  of  the  character  and  moral 

powers  of  her  husband  "  ;  but  she  was  really  an  excellent  judge. 
Tired  of  his  coldness,  she  tried  to  spend  her  youth  agreeably  and 
to  seek  distractions.  The  husband  and  wife  really  only  agreed 
on  the  subject  of  ceremony  ;  they  both  did  their  best  to  avoid 
it.  Except  for  this  single  affinity,  their  tastes  were  opposite. 
The  Queen  loved  dress,  and  social  pleasures  which  she  could 
enjoy  with  her  intimates,  cards,  and  amusements  which  were 
not  spoilt  by  careful  preparation  ;  she  spent  happy  days  far 
280 


THE    QUEEN'S    SURROUNDINGS 

from  the  Court ;  at  the  Trianon,  whicli  had  been  a  gift  to  her 
on  the  accession,  she  imagined  herself  a  private  individual  whose 
mission  it  was  to  receive  her  friends,  to  do  the  honours  to  them, 
and  to  prepare  charming  and  rustic  surprises  for  their  entertain- 
ment.    She  forgot  that  she  had  royal  duties  also,   an  error 
which  her  husband  encouraged.     She  was  pleasant  and  gracious 
with  all  the  dignity  of  a  queen.     Louis  was  brusque  and  awk- 
ward ;    his  natural  clumsiness  had  caused  his  grandfather  con- 
siderable disappointment.      Marie- Antoinette   sat  up   far  into 
the  night  and  got  up  late.     The  King  worked  with  his  ministers, 
but  the  pastimes  which  appealed  to  him  were  hunting  and 
manual  labour.     Tired  out  by  violent  exercise,  he  became  silent 
and  taciturn  and  by  no  means  an  "evening  man."     They  both 
tried  to  hide  their  little  weaknesses  ;   Louis  was  rather  ashamed 
of  his  locksmith's  work,  and  Marie- Antoinette  of  her  passion  for 
gambling.     Sometimes  she  would  put  the  clock  forward  so  as 
to  hasten  the  time  when  the  sleepy  King  would  go  to  bed,  and 
the   faro   table   could   be   brought   out.     She   secretly   bought 
diamonds,  not  satisfied  with  the  jewels  with  which  she  was 
already  loaded  ;  her  mother  reproved  her  for  it  and  told  her  her- 
freshness  was  her  chief  ornament,  but  her  taste  for  jewels  was 
irresistible,  and  later  it  will  be  seen  that  her  adversaries  turned 
it  into  a  deadly  weapon  against  her.     Such  was  their  daily  life. 
Nevertheless,  Louis  was  captivated  by  his  wife  ;    he  loved  her 
as  much  as  he  was  capable  of  loving  anyone,  but  according  to 
Mercy  he  feared  as  much  as  he  loved  her.     Maria  Theresa  deeply 
regretted  the  situation  at  Versailles  ;    "  The  King's  kindness  to 
her  [the  Queen]  on  every  occasion,  ought  to  make  her  respond 
with  a  perfect  return,  by  giving  up  her  dissipated  life,  which 
is  so  opposed  to  the  King's  character  and  tastes  ;    I  see  with 
regret  that   although  your  remonstrances  and  those  of  Abbe 
Vermond  [the  Queen's  reader]  make  some  impression  on  my 
daughter,  they  are  soon  effaced  by  the  suggestions  of  those 
around  her  and  her  own  thoughtlessness."     Louis,   as  King, 
had  no  more  influence  than  he  had  had  as  Dauphin.     Nor  were 
his   brothers   in   better   case.     The   Comte   de   Provence   was 
The  King's        gracious,   learned,  and   clever,   but  he  was  also 
Brothers.  conceited  and  crafty,  and  the  Queen  had  been 

warned  against  this  Court  "  Tartufe."     In  the  depths  of  his 

231 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

heart  he  congratulated  himself  that  there  was  no  lieir  to  the 
crown,  and  he  built  his  hopes  for  the  future  on  this  eircunistanee. 
He  was  no  more  innocent  than  were  his  aunts  of  the  scandal 
which  was  talked  about  the  Queen.  The  Comte  d'Artois  was 
feather-brained  and  brilliant,  and  thus  agreed  better  with  his 
sister-in-law,  whose  tastes  partook  of  the  frivolity  natural  to  her 
age.  The  future  Charles  X,  at  this  time  but  lately  married,  was  far 
from  serious,  and  only  thought  of  amusing  himself  in  a  princely 
fashion,  throwing  money  away,  and  satisfying  his  most  extrava- 
gant whims,  while  scarcely  attempting  to  pay  his  creditors.  He 
was  the  enfant  terrible  of  the  family.  Sure  of  herself,  Marie- 
Antoinette  had  an  instinctive  hatred  for  vice,  as  she  had  proved 
on  her  first  arrival  while  Louis  XV  was  still  living,  but  she 
thoughtlessly  allowed  herself  to  be  led  by  her  brother-in-law 
into  unfortunate  amusements,  the  balls  at  the  opera  and  the 
little  theatres,  and  although  all  that  could  be  said  against  this 
was  that  the  King  took  no  part  in  it,  even  that  was  too  much. 
The  wives  of  the  two  princes  were  of  the  House  of  Savoy, 
and  were  very  jealous  of  their  sister-in-law's  cliarm  ;   they  held 

_„   . themselves  aloof.     Their  Italian  character  was  not 

xli6ir  wives 

trusted.  The  Queen  who  longed  to  assure  the  dynas- 
tic succession,  was  naturally  envious  of  the  Comtesse  d'Artois, 
happy  in  the  possession  of  sons,  and  she  suffered  a  good  deal  in 
consequence.  Mesdames,  the  royal  aunts,  had  "  little  heads," 
and  it  was  impossible  "  to  put  anything  reasonable  into  them."* 
JThey  did  not  love  Marie- Antoinette,  because  her  marriage  was 
[Choiseul's  work.  They  had  wanted  a  Princess  of  Saxony  for  the 
Dauphin.  Their  advice  met  with  no  attention,  and  tired  of  use- 
less intrigue,  Mesdames  went  into  a  retreat  whence  they  only 
appeared  on  rare  occasions  to  make  disagreeable  remarks  which 
were  of  no  effect.  The  real  intimates  of  Marie-Antoinette  were 
found  elsewhere.  The  Queen  had  made  certain  ladies  her  friends 
and  confidantes,  sometimes  with  little  consideration,  as  might 
be  expected  from  a  girl  only  twenty  years  old.  Her  chief  desire 
was  to  escape  the  moral  solitude  which  overcame  her  even  in 
the  midst  of  pleasures  and  fetes.  Her  graciousness,  which  was 
even  more  marked  than  her  beauty,  made  her  seek  and  evoke 
the  sympathy  which  she  could  not  find  in  her  family  circle. 

♦  Due  de  Croy. 
232 


THE    QUEEN'S    SURROUNDINGS 

She  chose  her  friends  because  they  were  charming,  and  attached 
them  to  her  because  they  were  unhappy.  She  wished  to  make 
them  happy,  but  unfortunately  in  so  doing  she  worked  her  own 
ruin. 

The  Princesse  de  Lamballe,  her  first  friend,  was  a  Carignan 
and  cousin  to  Madame  and  the  Comtesse  d'Artois.  She  married. 
Promotion  oJ  ^^  1767,  the  Prince  de  Lamballe,  son  of  the  Due 
Madame  de  Penthievre  and  a  princess  of  Modena,  but  she 

de  Lamballe.  -^^s  abandoned  by  her  husband  after  five  months 
and  became  a  widow  in  May  1768.  She  had  a  position  at  Court 
when  the  Dauphine  came  to  France.  Marie-Antoinette  made 
friends  with  this  lovable  creature  with  the  melancholy,  delicate 
face,  and  the  childlike  air.  A  poet  represents  her  as  embodying 
the  three  Graces,  and  adds  : 

II  n'est  qu'un  point  oil  vous  et  vos  modeles. 
Douce  beaute,  ne  vous  ressemblez  pas  ; 
La  volupte  marche  toujours  pres  d'elles, 
C'est  la  vertu  qui  conduit  vos  pas.* 

When  she  became  Queen,  Marie  Antoinette  wanted  to  create 
a  post  for  Madame  de  Lamballe.  She  soon  excited  the  jealousy 
of  her  ladies-in-waiting  when  they  heard  that  the  young 
widow  was  to  be  made  Superintendent  of  her  household.  Her 
father-in-law,  aided  by  Maurepas,  who  wished  to  gain  the 
Queen's  favour,  carried  this  affair  through  and  obtained  for  the 
lady  a  salary  of  50,000  crowns,  although  originally  it  had  only 
been  intended  to  make  it  a  third  of  that  amount,  50,000  livres. 
The  Due  de  Penthievres,  who  was  a  champion  of  etiquette,  and 
had  an  eye  to  the  main  chance,  insisted  that  the  privileges  of 
the  post  should  be  the  same  as  they  were  for  Mile,  de  Clermont, 
Superintendent  to  Marie  Leszczynska  and  last  holder  of  the  posi- 
tion, which  had  been  suppressed  in  1740.  Louis  and  Turgot 
yielded,  in  October  1775,  to  the  Queen's  great  joy.  She  had 
confided  her  hopes  to  Rosenberg :  "  The  Marechale  de 
Mouchy  is  going  to  leave,  so  they  say.  I  do  not  know  whom 
I  shall  have  in  her  place.  But  I  shall  ask  the  King  to  take 
advantage  of   the    changes    to    make   Madame  de  Lamballe 

*  There  is  only  one  point,  in  which  you  and  your  models,  gentle  beauty, 
are  unlike  ;  voluptuousness  walks  alway  near  them  ;  it  is  virtue  that 
guides  your  steps. 

233 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

Superintendent.  Judge  of  my  happiness  !  I  shall  make  my  great 
friend  happy  and  I  shall  have  even  more  pleasure  from  this  than 
XV ill  she.'' 

When  we  remember  the  sums  expended  by  Marie  de'  Medici 
on  the  Marcchal  d'Ancrc,  the  astounding  hbcrahty  of  Louis  XIV 
to  Madame  dc  Montespan  and  her  descendants  and  to  Madame 
de  Fontanges,  who  had  a  stipend  of  300,000  livres  a  month, 
Marie  Antoinette  seems  moderate  in  the  exercise  of  her  power. 
The  revenues  of  France  amounted  to  200,000,000  livres.  It  docs 
not  seem  unpardonable  to  have  revived  the  post  of  Superin- 
tendent, especially  as  the  motive  was  goodness  of  heart  and  not 
vanity  ;  but  the  Court  never  made  the  slightest  allowances 
for  any  of  the  Queen's  actions.  There  were,  however,  other 
instances  of  the  Queen's  liberality  which  laid  themselves  more 
open  to  the  bitter  attacks  made  against  them.  It  was  surely 
unnecessary  to  expend  600  louis  in  paying  the  debts  of  the 
Comte  d'Esterhazy,  an  Austrian  by  birth,  who  was  domiciled  in 
Paris.  It  was  equally  unnecessary  to  grant  a  widow's  pension 
to  the  Comtcsse  de  la  Marchc  when  that  lady  was  only  separated 
from  her  husband,  and  to  give  the  Prince  Eugene  de  Carignan, 
Madame  de  Lamballe's  brother,  a  yearly  salary  of  30,000  livres 
and  the  command  of  an  infantry  regiment,  especially  since  it 
caused  complaints  among  the  French  officers. 

Not  content  with  the  favour  which  had  been  conferred  on 
her,  the  Princesse  de  Lamballe  continued  to  make  requests, 
and  finally  tired  even  the  Queen.  She  aroused  protests  from 
all  quarters,  and  was  soon  the  centre  of  quarrels  and  dissensions. 
She  complained  to  the  Queen,  who  was  irritated,  and  said  she 
was  badly  served.  "  The  Princesse  de  Lamballe,  who  is  nearly 
always  ^vTong,"  wrote  Mercy,  "  is  gradually  losing  ground  with 
the  Queen  and  I  see  the  moment  coming  when  Her  Majesty  will 
be  filled  with  regret  and  find  herself  embarrassed  at  having 
re-established  a  useless  post  in  her  household." 

Even  before  the  appointment  of  the  Princesse  de  Lamballe 
had  been  signed,  Marie-Antoinette  had  found  a  new  friend  for 
Madame  whom  she  conceived  a  great  affection,  an  event 

de  Polignac.  which  brought  jealousy  into  the  field.  This  friend 
was  Gubrielle  Yolande  de  Polastron,  Comtcsse  Jules  de  Polignac. 
The  family  to  which  she  had  allied  herself  was  much  im- 
234 


THE    QUEEN'S    SURROUNDINGS 

poverishcd,  but  had  counted  among  its  representatives  a 
celebrated  Cardinal  who  had  been  a  faithful  servant  of  the  House 
of  France  and  the  Catholic  cause.  The  Comtesse,  of  whom 
there  is  a  pleasing  portrait  by  Madame  Vigee-Lebrun,  was  a 
charming  woman.  "  She  had,"  said  the  Due  de  Levis,  "  the 
kind  of  head  in  which  Raphael  could  combine  intelligent  ex- 
pression with  infinite  gentleness.  Others  might  excite  more 
surprise  or  admiration,  but  one  could  never  tire  of  looking  at 
her."  In  our  modern  eyes  Raphael's  heads,  though  they  are 
full  of  sweetness,  perhaps  lack  intelligence  of  expression.  The 
Comte  de  la  Marck  says  practically  the  same  as  the  Due  de 
Levis  and  adds :  "  Never  did  anyone's  demeanour  express 
more  modesty,  reserve,  and  propriety  than  did  hers." 

The  Queen  had  noticed  Madame  de  Polignac  at  one  of  the 
summer  balls  about  June  1775,  and  a  close  intimacy  had  sprung 
up  between  the  two  young  women.  "  When  I  am  with  her," 
said  Marie- Antoinette,  "  I  am  no  longer  a  Queen  ;  I  am  my- 
self." Henri  IV  had  said  practically  the  same  thing.  This 
intimacy,  which  lasted  more  than  fifteen  years,  had  greater 
influence  than  anything  else  on  the  Queen's  future.  Madame 
de  Polignac  had  neither  the  wit,  judgment,  nor  character  to 
justify  the  speed  with  which  she  won  the  position  of  confidante, 
to  the  exclusion  of  all  others  at  the  Court.  Yet  she  was  the 
"  depositary  of  all  the  thoughts  "  of  Marie- Antoinette.  The 
Austrian  Ambassador  was  alarmed  and  foresaw  the  worst 
consequences  from  this  "boundless  confidence,"  Political 
aspirants  did  not  neglect  this  open  door  ;  the  Queen  was  at 
the  mercy  of  innumerable  intriguers. 

The  Superintendent  had  the  support  of  the  Comte  d'Artois, 
the  Due  de  Chartres  (the  future  Philippe-Egalite)  and  all  those 
Besenval  who  composed  the  disaffected  society  of  the  Palais 

AdMmar,  and  Royal.  Madame  de  Polignac' s  partisans  were  the 
Vaudreuil.  Baron  de  Besenval,  an  indiscreet  friend  of  the 
Queen,  a  man  of  wit,  who  loved  "  intrigue  for  intrigue's  sake, 
even  though  it  brought  him  nothing,"  and  with  him  ambitious 
members  o{  the  jeunesse  doree,  the  Comte  d'Adhemar,  a  pleasant 
singer,  an  excellent  actor,  a  composer  of  elegant  couplets,  and 
Vaudreuil,  the  most  important  man  of  the  group,  behind  whom 
Choiseul  was  concealed.     This  brilliant  society  met  together  at 

235 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

the  house  of  the  Princcsse  dc  Gu^m6n6e.  The  latter  was  a 
daughter  of  the  Mar6chal  de  Soubisc,  and  was  later  to  become  the 
Madame  de  governess  of  the  Children  of  France  until  her  hus- 
Gu§m6n6e.  band's  failure  caused  her  downfall.  Outwardly, 
these  evenings  were  easy  social  functions,  but  those  present  did 
not  hesitate  to  interfere  in  affairs  of  State,  to  give  the  Queen  in- 
terested advice,  and  in  short  to  exploit  her.  They  spoke  with 
absolute  freedom  of  all  that  was  happening  at  Court  ;  they 
ridiculed  those  they  wished  to  injure,  laid  traps  for  them,  and 
practised  every  form  of  intrigue  both  small  and  great.  It  was 
at  one  of  these  evenings  that  Maurcpas  introduced  himself  to 
Madame  de  Polignac  and  told  her  of  his  desire  to  become  Prime 
Minister,  hoping  that  she  would  repeat  his  remarks  to  the 
Queen.  Maurcpas,  who  was  always  seeking  his  own  advance- 
ment, was  ready  to  sacrifice  everything,  even  his  most  trust- 
worthy colleagues,  to  his  own  ambition. 

The  three  leaders  of  this  party,  Besenval,  Adh6mar  and 
Vaudreuil,  have  been  severely  criticized  by  La  Marck.  None 
of  them,  he  said,  had  any  depth  of  judgment  or  exalted  views, 
they  were  "  people  who  were  skilled  in  the  artifices  of 
the  Court  and  nothing  more."  They  did  not  possess  "  that 
power  of  observation  which  enables  its  possessor  to  grasp 
the  events  that  are  likely  to  have  an  important  bearing  on  the 
future."  This  Polignac  society  was  harmful  not  only  to  Marie- 
Antoinette  but  to  the  interests  of  the  Monarchy  itself.  The  wit, 
gaiety,  distinction,  and  cleverness  of  the  trio  were  deceptive, 
and  cleverer  people  than  the  Queen  might  have  been  misled  by 
them.  Vaudreuil,  in  particular,  gained  a  complete  ascendency 
over  Madame  de  Polignac,  and  found  opportunity  to  satisfy  his 
greed  for  favours. 

The  fair  Comtesse  was  very  susceptible  to  the  handsome  face 
and  agreeable  manners  of  Vaudreuil.  To  find  an  excuse  for 
the  scandal  that  began  to  be  whispered,  she  declared  that  she 
was  above  'prejudices,  llcr  attitude  towards  religion  was  as 
doubtful  as  her  moral  standard.  Lassone,  the  doctor,  said  one 
day  to  the  Abb6  de  Vermond  that  he  feared  this  intimacy  might 
in  the  end  affect  the  piety  of  the  Queen.  At  first  Madame  de 
Pohgnae  asked  nothing  for  herself,  though  later  she  had  her  re- 
ward and  became  a  duchess  ;  but  her  relatives,  one  after  another, 
286 


THE    QUEEN'S    SURROUNDINGS 

were  benefited  by  reversions  and  offices,  to  the  great  disgust  of 
those  whose  rank  led  them  to  count  on  reaping  some  of  the 
harvest.  The  Rohans,  Tessas,  Noailles,  Montmorencys  and 
Civracs  felt  themselves  aggrieved.  In  a  few  years  the  Polignacs 
had  an  income  of  nearly  500,000  livres.  Two  examples  will 
suffice.  Comte  Jules  de  Polignac's  father  was  well  known  for 
his  stupidity,  yet  he  was  given  the  Swiss  Embassy,  because  it 
was  lucrative  and  got  him  away  from  Court,  where  his  presence 
embarrassed  his  children.  The  Comtesse  Diane  de  Polignac, 
sister  of  Comte  Jules,  was  made  lady-in-waiting  to  Madame 
Elisabeth,  although  the  freedom  of  her  conduct  was  likely  to 
cause  scandals. 

The  Queen's  intimacy  with  her  friend  had  the  effect  of  in- 
creasing her  aversion  from  ceremony,  and  this  caused  new  sub- 
jects for  complaint.  It  was  said  that  the  Court 
only  existed  for  a  small  and  exclusive  circle,  that 
it  was  like  a  private  house,  where  sympathy  alone  assured  a 
favourable  reception.  A  Queen  of  France  owes  herself  to  her 
subjects  ;  she  is  bound  to  keep  up  the  traditions,  said  the  most 
indulgent?of  Marie- Antoinette's  enemies.  The  most  audacious 
songs,  calumnies,  and  satires  fell  like  rain  on  Paris,  the  pro- 
vinces, and  foreign  countries.  That  the  Queen  did  not  spare  her 
husband  as  a  subject  for  her  wit  was  well  known.  Some  of  the 
satires  touch  on  this  : 

La  Reine  dit  imprudemment 
A  Besenval  son  confident : 
"  Mon  mari  est  un  pauvre  sire." 
L'autre  repond  d'un  ton  liger  : 
"  Chacun  le  pense,  sans  le  dire, 
Vous  le  dites  sans  y  penser."  * 

La  Marck,  who  knew  the  Court  intimately  and  always  spoke 
of  the  Queen  with  respect,  deplored  this  tendency,  though  he 
tried  to  palliate  it.  "  It  was,"  he  said,  "  a  mistake  for  a  person 
in  her  position,  since  those  around  her  knew  her  weakness,  and 
sought  to  amuse  her  at  the  expense  of  others." 

There  came  a  time  when  she  knew  how  she  had  been  deceived, 
and  at  last  gave  up  Madame  de  Polignac.     When  people  ex- 

*  The  Queen  said  imprudently  to  her  confidante  Besenval,  "My  husband 
is  a  poor  fellow."  The  other  answered  lightly,  "  Every  one  thinks  so 
without  saying  it,  you  say  it  without  thinking." 

237 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

pressed  astonishment  at  seeing  her  seek  refuge  amongst  foreigners, 
she  said  : 

"  You  are  right,  but  at  least  they  do  not  ask  me  for  an}i:hing," 
She  hvcd  as  in  a  dream  with  absolute  unconsciousness  and 
refused  to  believe  the  warnings  of  her  mother  or  her  fears  for 
Joseph  II's  the  future.  Yet  in  the  midst  of  her  life  of  diver- 
estimate  of  the  sions  she  must  have  found  little  amusement.  In 
Queen.  hd.  f^ar  of  ennui  she  made  continual  efforts  to 

avert  it,  but  with  small  success.  Her  brother,  Joseph  II,  in 
other  respects  too  hard  a  critic,  at  least  understood  the  psycho- 
logy of  Marie-Antoinette  on  this  point ;  he  wrote  to  Mercy 
with  reference  to  her  mania  for  gambling,  which  caused  Fon- 
tainebleau  to  be  compared  to  Spa  :  "  Her  craving  for  pleasure 
and  her  anxiety  to  find  those  who  can  procure  it  for  her,  happy, 
contented  people,  is  the  only  cause  of  these  disorders,  for  at 
heart  my  sister  does  not  hke  gambling."  All  Marie-Antoinette 
received  from  her  circle  was  the  basest  ingratitude.  The  King, 
the  only  person  who  was  really  faithful  to  her,  by  his  indulgence 
and  loving  weakness  encouraged  her  tastes  and  extravagance. 
Louis  by  degrees  awoke  from  his  torpor  and  fell  a  victim  to  her 
charm.  But  he  did  not  rightly  understand  his  duties  ;  he  ad- 
mired the  Queen  in  passive  silence.  The  niceties  of  this  situa- 
tion formed  the  main  problem  of  the  Royal  Household,  as 
Marie-.Vntoinettc  shows  in  a  confidential  letter  :  "  If  I  needed 
a  vindication,"  she  wrote  to  the  Comte  de  Rosenberg,  "  I  could 
safely  rely  on  you.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  I  am  ready  to  admit 
more  than  you  would  allow.  For  instance,  my  pursuits  are  not 
the  same  as  the  King's,  for  his  are  only  hunting  and  mechanical 
pursuits.  You  will  agree  that  I  should  scarcely  look  my  best 
at  a  forge  ;  I  could  not  be  Vulcan,  and  the  part  of  Venus  would 
displease  him  far  more  than  my  present  tastes,  of  which  he  does 
not  disapprove." 

Marie-Antoinette  needed  firm  guidance.  All  she  found  was 
a  husband  anxious  to  please  her  and  abashed  before  the  attrac- 
Walpole's  t  i<^"^  ^^  ^^^  triumphant  youth.    Another  foreigner, 

Portrait  oJ  Horace  Walpole,  gives  us  an  idea  of  her  irresistible 

the  Queen.  charm.  His  words  are  well  known  and  arc  the  more 
valual)le  in  that  they  arc  disinterested  :  "  It  was  iinj)ossible  to 
see  anything  Ijut  the  Queen  !  Hcbes  and  Floras  and  Helens 
288 


THE    QUEEN'S    SURROUNDINGS 

and  Graces  are  street-walkers  to  her.  She  is  a  statue  of  beauty, 
when  standing  or  sitting ;  grace  itself  when  she  moves.  .  .  . 
They  say  she  does  not  dance  in  time,  but  if  so  it  is  certainly  the 
time  which  is  at  fault."  *  This  is  how  Marie-Antoinette  ap- 
peared at  a  ball  given  on  August  22,  1775,  on  the  occasion  of 
the  marriage  of  her  sister-in-law,  Madame  Clotildc,  to  the 
Prince  of  Piedmont. 

A  second  portrait,  by  a  Frenchman  this  time,  the  Comte  de 
Tilly,  is  less  enthusiastic,  yet  it  gives  an  impression  of  the  same 
De  Tilly's  charm  :    "  The  Queen  was  then  (about  1777)  at 

Portrait  of  her  best.  I  have  often  heard  her  beauty  spoken 
the  Queen.  of,  and  I  confess  I  have  never  absolutely  shared 
that  opinion.  But  she  had  that  which  is  more  valuable  than 
perfect  beauty  on  the  throne,  the  look  of  a  Queen  of  France, 
even  at  the  moments  when  she  tried  most  to  seem  nothing  but 
a  pretty  woman.  .  .  .  She  had  two  kinds  of  walk,  the  one  firm, 
slightly  hurried,  but  always  noble,  the  other  softer  and  more 
rhythmical,  almost  languorous,  yet  never  encouraging  people 
to  forget  their  respect.  Never  have  curtsies  been  made  with 
such  grace  ;  at  a  single  inclination  she  greeted  ten  people,  yet 
with  head  and  glance  she  gave  to  each  his  due.  In  short,  if  I 
am  not  deceived,  just  as  one  offers  a  chair  to  other  women,  so 
one  would  almost  always  have  wished  to  bring  her  a  throne."  ' 
It  is  a  pleasure  to  quote  so  delightful  an  account,  more  especially 
since  it  bears  the  stamp  of  truth.  In  going  on  to  speak  of  the 
Queen's  character,  Tilly  brings  us  back  to  our  subject  and  illus- 
trates it  in  convincing  terms.  He  laments  the  disgust  Marie 
Antoinette  showed  :  "  for  the  forms  surrounding  royalty,  which 
are  more  necessary  in  France  than  in  any  place  I  know,"  and  "  her 
incurable  prejudice  (though  in  general  her  nature  was  uncertain 
and  hesitating)  for  or  against  those  who  were  pointed  out  for 
her  favours  or  her  hatred,  or  whom  she  had  herself  classified,  as 
she  often  did  without  any  reflection." 

The  critic  especially  refers  to  the  dismissal  of  Turgot,  the 
gravest  fault  of  the  early  days  of  the  reign,  and  the  work  of  the 
Intrigues  Queen's  intimates.     Turgot  was  marked  out  as  a 

against  Turgot.  victim  to  be  sacrificed  to  the  extravagance  and 
intrigues  of  the  Court.     A  combination  formed  of  the  Polignacs, 
*  Letter  to  the  Countess  of  Upper  Ossory. 

239 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

the  Duchcssc  de  Gramont,  Choiscul's  sister,  and  the  Due  de 
Doigny,  had  no  difficulty  in  persuading  Marie-Antoinette  and 
even  the  King,  tliat  the  Minister  had  become  the  most  un- 
popular of  all  Controllers-General. 

Turgot  was  a  man  of  the  strictest  integrity,  but  he  was  too 
abrupt  and  unbending.  He  imposed  his  principles  without 
a  trace  of  compromise,  and  it  has  been  said  of  him  in  contrast 
to  Terray  :  "He  did  the  right  thing  in  the  wrong  way,  while 
the  Abb6  did  the  wrong  thing  in  the  right  way."  Sdnac  de 
Meilhan  exaggerates,  in  his  effort  to  make  himself  clear,  but  there 
is  a  certain  amount  of  truth  in  the  following  judgment  :  "  He 
did  not  know  how  to  make  allowances  for  the  weaknesses  of  men, 
still  less  for  their  vices.  Monsieur  Turgot  acted  like  a  surgeon 
operating  on  a  corpse,  and  forgot  that  he  was  operating  on 
living  beings." 

Turgot  was  a  convinced  Royalist,  and  he  was  perhaps  the 
only  minister  who  could  have  saved  the  monarchy,  as  is  proved 
by  the  consequences  of  his  retirement.  Some  of  those  who 
followed  him,  men  devoid  both  of  talent  and  probity,  showed  the 
extent  of  the  loss  that  France  had  suffered.  A  month  before 
the  Controller's  disgrace,  Louis  had  said  :  "  Only  Monsieur 
Turgot  and  I  love  the  peoj^le."  Turgot's  schemes  were  soon 
abandoned,  but  among  them  were  some  of  the  reforms  which 
the  Revolution  claimed  as  its  own.  For  instance,  he  pro- 
posed the  abolition  of  the  conies,  to  be  replaced  by  a  tax 
paid  by  all  proprietors  whether  privileged  or  not,  the  sup- 
pression of  Wardens,  Freedoms,  and  Guilds  which  superficial 
observers  at  that  time  saw  only  as  hindrances  to  commerce 
and  industry,  without  understanding  the  profound  reasons  for 
which  centuries  of  experience  had  imposed  them  mn  Western 
Europe. 

These  proposals  increased  the  number  of  Turgot's  enemies. 
Courtiers,  financiers,  Parliamentarians,  and  high  dignitaries 
of  the  Church  were  all  jealous  of  their  ]ir<rogativ(  s,  and  there 
was  now  also  a  bourgcoisc  aristocracy  which  swelled  the  ranks 
of  those  who  were  interested  in  preserving  the  traditional 
forms  of  society.  A  great  lady  summed  up  the  whole  question, 
saying  :  "  Wliy  make  innovations  ?  Is  not  all  well  with  us  ?" 
Was  this  remark  malice  or  naivete  ? 
240 


THE    QUEEN'S    SURROUNDINGS 

The  opinion  of  the  ParHament  was  similar  and  it  wished  to 
suppress  Turgot's  edicts.  Louis  disregarded  it,  and  the  edicts 
Imprudent  were  registered  by  order  on  March  13, 1776.  But 
Interference  of  the  Controller's  isolation  became  more  pro- 
the  Queen.  nouneed.  His  enemies  were  uniting,  and  they  even 
went  so  far  as  to  forge  letters  purporting  to  come  from  Turgot, 
and  containing  sarcasms  against  the  Queen  and  jests  and  offen- 
sive words  about  the  King.  "  All  this  correspondence,"  said 
Dupont  of  Nemours,  "  was  brought  to  Louis  XVI.  He  com- 
municated it  to  Maurepas,  who,  one  may  well  suppose,  failed  to 
express  any  strong  doubts  as  to  its  authenticity.  Other  letters 
were  also  intercepted,  whether  genuine  or  not,  in  which  the  most 
violent  accusations  were  made  against  the  Controller-General." 
His  dismissal  was  decided.  Tormented  by  her  intimates,  who 
used  as  their  weapon  Turgot's  recall  of  the  Comte  de  Guines 
from  his  embassy,  the  Queen  yielded  and  obtained  the  desired 
order  from  the  King.  Louis,  compromised  by  his  contradictions, 
in  the  end  listened  to  his  wife.  Mercy,  who  saw  more  clearly, 
declared  that  her  influence  would  one  day  draw  upon  the  Queen 
"  the  just  reproaches  of  the  King,  her  husband,  and  even  of  all 
the  nation.^'  These  prophetic  words  alarmed  Maria  Theresa,  but 
the  Empress  understated  her  terror  in  writing  to  her  daughter, 
for  fear  of  revealing  the  confidences  of  Mercy  :  "  The  public," 
she  wrote,  "  no  longer  speaks  of  you  with  the  same  enthusiasm  ; 
it  thinks  you  occupied  with  small  conspiracies  unworthy  of  your 
position."  Marie- Antoinette  replied  :  "  My  conduct  and  my  in- 
tentions are  well  known,  and  they  are  far  removed  from  con- 
spiracy and  intrigue.  There  may  be  people  who  are  disturbed 
about  what  is  said  between  the  King  and  myself ;  but  I  will  not 
renounce  the  confidence  which  rightly  exists  between  my 
husband  and  myself  to  satisfy  them.  Moreover,  I  trust  that  the 
general  opinion  is  not  so  opposed  to  me  as  some  one  has  informed 
my  dear  mother."  Marie-Antoinette  denied  having  had  any 
share  in  Turgot's  dismissal.  She  dissimulated,  blindly  following 
the  advice  of  her  intimates.  She  was  beginning  "  to  use  sub- 
terfuges in  order  to  give  a  false  colour  to  her  actions,"  as  Maria 
Theresa  wrote  to  Mercy. 

Tm-got  quitted  his  ministry  with  dignity.  In  a  letter  to  the 
King  he  said,  *'  My  greatest   hope  is  that  you  may  come  to 

Q  24<1 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

know  that  I  am  wrong  and  that  I  have  warned  you  of  chimerical 
dangers.     I  trust  that  time  may  not  justify  me." 
Fall  of  Turgot  Malcshcrbcs,    who    supported    Turgot's    prin- 

and  ciplcs    and     wished    with    him    to    reform    the 

Malesherbes.  extravagance  of  the  Court,  was  obliged  to  send 
in  his  resignation.  The  same  combination  overthrew  both 
the  reforming  ministers,  who  had  come  before  their  time. 
As  Walpole  said  :  "  Since  their  plans  tend  to  serve  the  public 
you  may  be  sure  they  do  not  please  interested  individuals.  .  .  . 
Designing  persons  who  have  no  weapon  but  ridicule  to  use 
against  good  men,  already  employ  it  to  make  a  trifling  nation 
laugh  at  its  benefactors  ;  and  if  it  is  the  fashion  to  laugh,  the 
laws  of  fashion  will  be  executed  preferably  to  those  of  common 


sense 


"  ♦ 


According  to  the  President  de  Bachaumont,  Louis  said  to 
Malesherbes  on  the  day  of  his  departure.  May  12,  177C  :  "  How 
fortunate  you  are  !     Would  that  /  could  retire  !  " 

The  Comte  dc  Muy  died  on  October  10,  1775,  and  the  Depart- 
ment of  War  was  entrusted  to  the  Comte  de  Saint-Germain,  a 
The  Comte  de  gifted  officer,  though  of  an  advanced  age,  who  had 
Saint-Germain,  performed  most  of  his  service  abroad,  in  Austria, 
Bavaria,  and  Denmark.  His  appointment  astonished  every 
one,  since  he  was  little  known.  Maurepas  had  brought  him 
from  retirement  in  Alsace.  As  minister  he  was  allowed  to  issue 
decree  after  decree  ;  he  suppressed  a  part  of  the  King's  Military 
Household,  and  increased  the  army  by  40,000  men  without  extra 
cost  to  the  Treasury  ;  he  prohibited  luxury  and  gaming, 
attacked  the  sale  of  offices,  and  made  the  famous  strokes  with 
the  flat  of  the  sword  a  substitute  for  imprisonment  for  light 
olTences.  This  last  innovation  was  considered  an  insult,  and  a 
soldier  said  :  "  Strike  with  the  point ;  it  hurts  less."  Saint-Ger- 
main remained  in  power  after  Turgot's  fall  until  September  1777  ; 
then  he  became  very  unpopular  and  yielded  his  post  to  his 
assistant,  Monsieur  de  Montbarrey. 

Amclot  succeeded  Malesherbes.  Maurepas,  who  made  hght 
of  everything,  prepared  the  way  for  the  new  arrival  by  saying  • 
"  They  must  be  tired  of  nu  n  of  genius.  Let  us  see  if  they  will 
like  a  fool  better."     Amelot  was  faithful  to  his  reputation. 

*  Letter  to  Sir  Horace  Mann. 
242 


THE    QUEEN'S    SURROUNDINGS 

Clugny,  who  became  Controller-General,  died  a  few  months 
later,  but  he  had  time  to  re-establish  the  corvees  and  the  Wardens 
and  to  institute  a  public  lottery.  His  successor  was  one  of  the 
conspicuous  personalities  of  the  reign — Necker. 

The  country  was  in  the  throes  of  a  crisis  brought  about  by 
shallow  intrigues.  The  Queen's  youth,  the  King's  lack  of 
The  Decline  of  energy,  Maurepas'  levity,  were  so  many  play- 
the  Monarchy,  things  for  the  courtiers,  who  were  anxious  for 
change  and  eager  to  clear  the  way  for  their  own  advancement. 
The  Due  de  Croy  said  :  "  The  young  King,  who  did  not  shine 
in  bearing  or  manner,  was  always  good-natured,  well  intentioned, 
and  clear-sighted,  but  he  feared  the  embarrassment  of  making 
a  choice  or  a  decision,  always  a  difficult  thing,  so  that  he  avoided 
inquiry  or  discussion  with  anyone,  except  on  rare  occasions  with 
Monsieur  de  Maurepas,  whose  good-nature  did  not  incline  him 
towards  argument.  The  Queen  was  always  pleasure-seeking  ; 
she  did  nothing  but  run  about  to  the  shows  in  Paris,  the 
balls  at  the  Opera  and  at  Versailles,  and  was  always  in  a  flutter, 
hoping  to  escape  boredom  by  perpetual  motion."  At  this  time 
the  Comtesse  de  la  Marck  wrote  to  Gustavus  III,  King  of 
Sweden  :  "  Everything  here  is  as  God  wills  ;  good  sense,  sound 
judgment,  a  regard  whether  for  public  or  private  interests  are 
unknown.  ...  A  King  who  wishes  to  do  good,  but  has  neither 
the  power  nor  the  ability  to  compass  it ...  a  Minister  [Maurepas], 
who  was  unstable  and  weak  at  forty,  and  is  further  enervated 
by  age,  who  does  the  strangest  things,  and  makes  light  of  public 
opinion.  .  .  .  The  Queen  goes  continually  to  Paris  .  .  .  incurs 
debts,  invites  lawsuits,  decks  herself  in  feathers  and  fripperies, 
and  laughs  at  everything." 

The  monarchy  was  waning ;  it  sought  assistance  from 
Necker,  a  foreigner.  The  Queen  needed  advice  and  the  Emperor 
came  to  give  it  her.     But  it  was  already  too  late. 

Principax,  Sources.  M^moires  sur  la  vie  et  le  caracUre  de  la 
Duchesse  de  PoUgnac,  by  the  Comtesse  Diane  de  Polignac,  1  vol.,  1796  ; 
Mhnoires  of  the  Comte  de  Paroy,  of  Marmontel,  of  the  Baronne  d'Ober- 
kich,  of  Tilly  ;  Reports  said  to  be  by  Bachaumont ;  Letters  of  Horace 
Walpole  ;  Correspondance  enire  le  Comte  de  Mirabeau  et  le  Comte  de  la 
Marck,  2  vols.,  1851  ;  Thevenot,  Correspondance  du  prince  Xavier  de 
Saxe  ;  Senac  de  Meilhan,  Du  gouvernement  et  des  moeurs,  1795. 

243 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

THE  EMPEROR'S  VISIT 
1777 

Ncokcr.  Madame  Ncckcr  and  her  Salon.  £loge  dc  Colbert.  Sur 
la  h'gislation  ct  le  commerce  dcs  Bit's.  Ncckcr  in  power.  The 
Emperor  approves  of  Ncckcr.  Josci)h  IFs  visit.  He  repairs  the 
blunders  of  the  Archduke  Maximilian.  Proposals  of  marriage. 
A  Mentor.  The  Jnvalidcs.  Coolness  between  the  Queen  and 
her  brother.  The  Emperor's  opinions  on  the  French  Court: 
Louis  XVI,  the  Comte  d'Artois,  the  Comtc  dc  Provence.  He 
severely  criticizes  the  Queen's  intimates.  Portrait  of  Joseph  II 
by  the  Comte  de  Provence.  Discontent  of  the  Choiseul  party. 
Madame  du  Barry.  Portrait  of  the  Queen  by  Joseph  II. 
Instructions  left  for  Marie-Antoinette. 

NECKER  was  the  real  successor  of  Turgot.  He  came 
from  Geneva,  from  a  school  of  skilful  and  honest 
bankers.  He  commenced  his  career  in  Paris  in  the 
house  of  a  comjiatriot,  bringing  with  him  the  solemn,  formal 
Necker  and  spirit  which  flourishes  on  the  banks  of  Lake 
his  Wife.  Leman,    though    it    was    modified    and    softened 

by  his  desire  to  attain  a  high  position.  He  was  greatly  assisted 
by  his  wife,  Suzanne  Curchod,  a  Protestant  minister's  daughter, 
whom  Gibbon  had  wanted  to  marry.  Since  1765,  Madame 
Necker  had  had  a  salon  at  which  men  of  letters,  aspiring  to  the 
Academy,  appeared  side  by  side  with  great  nobles  and  most  of 
the  foreign  diplomats.  She  shone  more  by  her  intelligence 
than  by  her  grace.  The  Baronne  d'Oberkich  said  of  her  that, 
"  God  when  creating  her  dipped  her  in  a  bucket  of  starch." 
She  remained  a  Vaudoise  in  the  heart  of  Paris,  and  always  had 
a  trace  of  the  provincial.  Madame  de  Stael,  to  whom  she 
bequeathed  her  wit  though  not  her  beauty,  similarly  failed  to 
become  absolutely  French.  But  Madame  Necker  at  least  com- 
mandtd  res])eet  by  her  virtue.  One  might  say  of  her  what 
Madame  du  Delland  said  of  the  Uuchcssc  de  Choiseul,  another 
244 


THE    EMPEROR'S    VISIT 

virtuous  woman  :  "  She  wished  to  be  perfect ;  it  was  her  only 
fault  and  the  only  one  she  could  have."  If  Madame  Necker 
was  not  the  woman  she  hoped  to  be,  she  at  least  set  a  fine 
example  of  philanthropy  by  the  foundation  of  her  hospital, 
with  which  she  occupied  ten  years  of  her  life.  One  of  the  inno- 
vations introduced  in  this  hospital  was  that  they  nursed  "  the 
sick  in  single  beds  with  every  attention  of  tenderness  and 
humanity,  and  without  exceeding  a  fixed  fee."  The  foregoing 
extract  from  a  contemporary  report  testifies  to  the  greatness  of 
the  service  rendered  by  this  worthy  deaconess. 

Necker  at  first  mixed  unobtrusively  with  the  society  with 
which  his  wife  liked  to  surround  herself  ;  he  adopted  the  atti- 
Necker's  social  tude  of  a  spectator.  On  occasions,  however,  he 
aloofness.  jested,  and  called  attention  to  some  eccentricity 

or  humorous  incident.  He  lacked  an  essentially  French  charac- 
teristic, as  Madame  du  Deffand  observed  to  Walpole,  which  con- 
sists in  "  a  certain  ability  to  bring  out  the  intelligence  of  those 
with  whom  one  speaks.  [jHe  gives  no  assistance  to  the  develop- 
ment of  one's  thoughts,  and  one  is  consequently  more  stupid 
with  him  than  when  by  oneself  or  with  others.^^  According  to 
Marmontel,  except  for  a  few  subtle  phrases  dropped  here  and 
there,  he  left  his  wife  to  maintain  and  enliven  the  conversation. 
When  Necker  married  Mile.  Curchod  the  following  remark  was 
made  :  "  They  will  be  so  bored  with  one  another  that  it  will 
give  them  an  occupation."  However,  they  did  not  bore  one 
another,  rather  did  they  bore  others  by  their  adoration,  and  the 
incense  they  burnt  to  one  another.  Although  Necker  was  not 
anxious  to  speak,  he  could  write.  As  soon  as  his  fortune  was 
made  he  left  the  bank,  and  in  1773  published  an  Eloge  de  Colbert, 
which  was  crowned  by  the  French  Academy.  He  then  got  him- 
self appointed  representative  of  the  Genevan  Republic  at  the 
Court  of  Versailles,  and  thus  received  congratulations  for  two 
honours  at  once. 

In  his  Moge  he  made  use  of  Colbert  to  paint  a  portrait  of 
an  ideal  Finance  Minister,  "  such  as  Colbert  perhaps  was,  and 
such  especially  as  Monsieur  Necker  aspired  to 
IS  ri  1  g  .  become,"  as  Sainte-Beuve  maliciously  observes. 
Two  years  later  appeared  his  work  Sur  la  Legislation  et  le  Com- 
merce des  Bles  (on  Legislation  and  the  Corn  Trade),  an  attack 

245 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

on  tlic  theories  and  even  the  character  of  Turgot.  In  Necker's 
opinion,  an  administrator  ought  to  have  "  a  suave  and  phant 
mind,  an  ardent  soul,  and  a  calm  judgment."  He  was  obvi- 
ously thinking  of  himself.  Neckcr  delighted  in  compliments, 
"  he  used  to  fish  for  compliments,"  to  use  the  picturesque 
English  expression.  He  was  vain-glorious,  and  in  his  efl'ort  to 
excite  flattering  comparisons  his  public  acts  were  tainted  with 
charlatanism.  Thus  at  the  time  of  his  first  loan,  as  it  was  fully 
subscribed  in  advance,  he  need  not  have  made  the  public  come 
to  the  Royal  Treasury  only  to  see  an  imposing  guard.  But  it  is 
only  fair  to  say,  with  Droz,  that  his  pride  made  him  glory  above 
all  in  services  rendered  to  the  State.  If  Turgot  thought  too 
much  of  theory,  Necker  was  purely  practical,  and  had  no  abstract 
ideas.  His  work  on  the  Corn  Trade  proves  this.  The  future 
minister  did  not  pronounce  for  or  against  freedom  in  this  trade, 
but  he  said  enough  to  injure  his  predecessor's  reputation.  He 
came  to  no  conclusions,  and  his  policy  was  rather  destructive 
than  constructive.  His  style  was  pompous,  verbose,  and  not 
easy  to  understand.  Society  called  his  work  a  "  break-neck  " 
{casse-cou)  treatise,  and  Voltaire  with  some  malice  said  "  great 
application  "  was  necessary  to  understand  Necker  "  and  deep 
knowledge  to  answer  him."  Turgot  might  have  taken  the  able 
financier's  advice  with  advantage,  but  a  great  gulf  separated  the 
two  men,  in  spite  of  their  ardent  desire  for  the  public  welfare. 
The  quarrels  of  their  friends  never  ceased  to  embitter  them  and 
make  them  antagonistic  to  one  another.  At  Clugny"s  death 
in  October  1776,  the  King  applied  to  Necker,  believing  that 
he  had  found  a  saviour. 

There  was  a  diflieulty  to  overcome  in  the  fact  that  Necker 
was  a  Protestant.  Louis — to  his  honour  be  it  said — was  in- 
Necker  in  sj)ired  by  that  spirit  of  toleration  which  his  father 

Power.  the  Dauphin  and  Turgot  had  shown  ;    he  made 

Taboureau  des  Reaux  Controller  of  Finance,  and  gave  the 
direction  of  this  department  to  the  "  Genevan  Ranker,"  though 
without  a  voice  in  the  Council  of  Ministers.  A  bishop  called 
attention  to  the  fact  that  the  laws  of  the  kingdom  excluded 
Protestants  from  all  ofiieial  jiositions. 

"  We  will  give  him  up  for  your  sake,"  said  Maurcpas,  "  if  the 
clergy  will  pay  the  national  debts." 
2iG 


THE    EMPEROR'S    VISIT 

When  Necker  demanded  the  suppression  of  six  Intendants 
of  Finance,  Taboureau  sent  in  his  resignation,  his  objection  being 
that  he  did  not  wish  to  injure  men  whom  he  esteemed.  Necker 
became  Director-General  on  June  29,  1777,  and  remained  in 
power  for  five  years,  until  May  19,  1781.  As  he  was  rich  he 
refused  the  salary  attached  to  his  office,  a  self-denial  which 
made  him  very  popular.  But  the  flattery  which  was  lavished 
upon  him  turned  his  head,  and  prevented  him  from  seeing  how 
serious  were  the  times  ;  he  was  no  statesman.  One  of  his 
colleagues,  the  Comte  de  Vergennes,  a  man  of  considerable 
ability,  showed  he  had  more  grasp  of  the  situation  than  Necker 
when  he  said  in  a  confidential  communication  to  Louis  :  "  There 
is  no  longer  Clergy,  Nobility,  or  Third  Estate  in  France.  The 
distinction  is  fictitious,  purely  representative,  and  without  any 
real  significance.  The  monarch  speaks,  all  the  rest  are  the 
people,  and  all  obey." 

One  of  the  Director's  first  actions  was  to  have  recourse  to  a 
loan,  which  was  justified  by  rumours  of  an  approaching  war 
with  England,  then  at  war  with  her  American  Colonies.  This 
financial  coup  was  a  triumph  for  Necker.  Nevertheless,  he  was 
criticized  for  not  having  given  any  guarantee  to  the  lenders, 
nor  introduced  taxes  to  consolidate  the  loans.  He  answered 
that  he  was  procuring  the  money  at  a  lower  rate  of  interest 
than  ever  before,  and  that  this  economic  difference  allowed 
him  to  ensure  the  satisfaction  of  all  the  liabilities  he  had  con- 
tracted. Such  a  guarantee  from  an  embarrassed  treasury 
was  somewhat  illusory.  In  1777  the  successive  loans  amoimted 
to  148,000,000  livres,  and  in  the  same  year  Necker  resolved  to 
reduce  the  number  of  posts  in  the  Department  of  Finance, 
in  spite  of  the  opposition  of  the  holders  of  those  offices,  who 
defended  themselves  "  Hke  devils."  He  established  a  com- 
mission with  the  object  of  reforming  the  hospitals,  created 
Government  pawn-shops  (monts-de-piete)  to  compete  with  the 
moneylenders  and  pawnbrokers,  who  were  very  numerous 
among  the  office-holders.  An  opposition  was  formed  against 
him.  "  It  is  because  he  interferes  with  the  interests  of  the  rich 
and  powerful  that  he  meets  with  continual  obstacles,"  it  was 
said ;  "  if  he  had  attacked  the  poor  only,  all  would  go  as  he 
wishes."  None  the  less  he  had  more  supporters  than  adversaries. 

247 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

When  the  Emperor  Joseph  II  came  to  France  at  this  period, 
he  had  an  interview  with  the  celebrated  Director  and  formed 
"the  most  favourable  idea  of  his  intellect"  and  "of  his 
character,  about  which  there  is  only  one  opinion." 

This  visit  of  the  Queen's  brother  takes  an  important  place 
in  the  history  of  1777.  Joseph  H  travelled  incognito  under 
Visit  of  the  name  of  the  Count  of  Falkenstein.     He  took 

Joseph  n.  care  to  keep  strictly  to  his  role,  and  whether  he  was 

in  Paris  or  Versailles  would  only  stay  at  an  hotel.  He  endeavoured 
to  escape  the  ovations  inevitably  showered  on  a  prince  whose 
liberal  ideas  and  horror  of  prejudice  were  well  known. 

Another  brother  of  Marie-Antoinette,  the  Archduke  Maxi- 
milian, had  visited  Versailles  in  1775,  but  had  not  been  a  success. 
When  Buffon  offered  him  his  works  he  said  : 

"  Sir,  I  should  be  very  sorry  to  deprive  you  of  them."  He 
was  very  young. 

This  foolish  speech  was  duly  retailed  by  the  Queen's  enemies. 
There  were  other  grounds  of  complaint  against  Maximilian 
because,  under  the  assumed  name  of  the  Count  of  Burgau,  he 
had  insisted  that  the  Dues  d'Orlcans  and  dc  Chartrcs  and  the 
Princes  de  Cond6  and  dc  Conti  should  visit  him  first.  The 
princes  of  the  blood  refused,  and  retired  to  their  estates  during 
the  Archduke's  visit. 

But  the  visit  of  Joseph  II,  who  was  very  popular,  caused 
these  unfortunate  impressions  to  be  forgotten.  He  saw  Buffon 
and  asked  him  for  the  books  which  his  young  brother  had 
"  forgotten,"  thus  redeeming  his  brother's  folly  by  his  wit. 

The  Emperor  was  a  grandson  by  marriage  of  Louis  XV  ; 
he  had  lost  his  wife,  the  Infanta  Isabella,  daughter  of  Don 
Matrimonial  Philip,  Duke  of  Parma,  and  of  Louise-Elisabeth  of 
Plans.  France.     It  was   thought  that   he   had  come   to 

marry  his  wife's  first  cousin,  Madame  Elisabeth,  sister  of 
Louis  XVI,  but  he  did  not  succumb  to  the  charms  of  the  Princess, 
who  later  paid  so  dearly  for  her  devotion  to  the  King,  Marie- 
Antoinette,  and  their  children.  For  some  time  Joseph  had 
renounced  marriage,  as  much  from  an  affected  austerity  as  from 
natural  coldness.  In  1772  he  wrote  to  his  brother  Leopold  : 
"  As  for  me,  I  am  becoming  rapidly  less  gallant  and  once  more 
I  am  moping  like  an  owl.  The  company  of  women  becomes 
248 


THE    EMPEROR'S    VISIT 

insupportable  to  a  reasonable  man  after  a  time,  and  I  may  say 
that  often  the  smartest  and  wittiest  remarks  turn  my  stomach." 
We  have  already  seen  something  of  this  contempt  for  women 
in  the  famous  intercepted  letter,  and  we  shall  find  it  again  in  his 
conversations  with  the  Queen. 

Marie-Antoinette  had  reason  to  be  disturbed  by  the  Imperial 
visit.  It  was  said  that  Joseph  had  a  political  object,  that  he 
had  come  to  ask  Vergennes  to  abandon  Turkey  and  to  consent 
to  divide  that  kingdom  between  France,  Russia,  and  Austria ; 
but  the  Emperor's  real  object  was  to  introduce  harmony  in  the 
Royal  Household.  The  choice  of  the  Mentor  was  not  a  happy 
one. 

The  Queen  refused  to  be  governed,  and  showed  herself 
stubborn  when  anyone  tried  to  treat  her  with  severity.  Maria 
Friction  Theresa,  as  Marie- Antoinette  herself  once  owned 

between  the  to  Mercy,  might  say  anything  to  her  :  "  From  my 
Queen  and  mother,"  she  said,  "  I  will  take  everything  with 
her  Brother.  respect,  but  as  for  my  brother,  I  shall  know  how 
to  answer  him."  The  Queen's  intimates  had  much  to  do  with 
these  declarations  of  revolt.  The  Austrian  ambassador  told 
Maria  Theresa  that  Marie-Antoinette  had  been  prejudiced  against 
her  brother  ;  "  people  had  contrived,"  he  said,  "  to  fill  her  mind 
with  fears  and  suspicions,  and  to  prevent  her  from  having  any 
confidence  in  His  Majesty  the  Emperor."  Joseph  caused  some 
offence  by  his  rather  caustic  remarks.  He  thought  it  ex- 
traordinary that  the  King  and  Queen  did  not  know  Paris  better. 
The  following  conversation  took  place  between  Louis  and  his 
guest : 

"  You  possess  the  most  beautiful  building  in  Europe." 

"  What  is  that  ?  " 

"  Les  Invalides." 

"  So  they  say." 

"  What  !    have  you  never  visited  the  building  ?  " 

''Mafoi,  no." 

"  Nor  have  I,"  said  the  Queen. 

"  Ah  !  "  said  Joseph  smiling,  "  I  am  not  surprised  in  your 
case,  sister  ;    you  are  so  busy." 

Another  time  Marie-Antoinette  asked  her  brother  to  admire 
one  of  the  enormous  structures  of  hair,  feathers,  ribbons,  and 

249 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

flowers  Avhicli  were  then  in    fashion    and    were    called    poufs 
au  sentiment. 

"  Is  not  my  hair  charmingly  arranged  ?  "  she  asked. 

"  Yes." 

"  But  that  yes  is  very  curt.  Does  not  the  style  suit 
me?" 

"  Ma  foi,  if  you  wish  me  to  speak  frankly,  Madame,  I  think 
it  is  very  light  to  bear  a  crown." 

Thus  far  his  criticisms  were  just  and  had  been  made  with 
some  wit. 

But  he  exceeded  all  bounds  when  he  advised  the  King  to 
make  a  visit  to  some  part  of  his  kingdom,  and  told  the  Queen 
not  to  accompany  her  husband,  because  she  would  be  useless. 
This  insult  was  followed  by  others  even  more  violent.  Joseph 
objected  to  "  the  Queen's  free  and  easy  manner  with  her  hus- 
band," to  "  her  disrespectful  language  "  and  her  "  want  of 
submission."  *  There  were  continual  misunderstandings  and 
serious  quarrels  betw^een  brother  and  sister.  Marie- Antoinette 
displeased  Joseph  by  defending  Choiscul ;  for  she  remained 
constant  to  the  ex-minister,  readily  listening  to  her  friends,  the 
Due  de  Coigny  and  the  Comte  Esterhazy,  both  devoted  to  the 
exile  of  Chanteloup. 

Mercy  records  another  scene  bctw'ccn  the  Queen  and  the 
Emperor  :  "  They  went  together  to  the  Theatre  of  Versailles. 
When  they  were  returning  the  Queen  spoke  of  going  to  the 
Italian  Theatre  in  Paris  the  next  day.  The  Emperor  observed 
that  it  was  a  fast-day,  that  the  King  did  not  dine,  and  that  it 
would  be  wrong  to  make  him  wait  too  long  for  his  supper. 
The  Emperor  also  added  other  reasons  which  displeased  the 
Queen,  because  they  WTre  given  in  the  presence  of  two  of  the 
ladies  of  the  Palace.  On  their  return  to  the  Chateau,  the  Queen 
quarrelled  with  the  EmjKTor  in  the  prest  nee  of  the  Comtcsse  de 
Polignac.  ..."  Mercy  took  it  upon  himself  to  ask  Joseph 
to  be  less  harsh,  and  after  that  the  quarrels  came  to  an  end. 

But  the  impression  remained.  Neither  the  King  nor  the 
Queen  was  pleased.  Louis  was  jealous  of  the  popularity  of 
Joseph,  his  aiTability,  edueation,  and  his  desire  to  sec  and 
understand   new  things.     Marie-Antoinette  retained   some  ill- 

♦  Mercy  to  Maria  Theresa. 
250 


THE    EMPEROR'S    VISIT 

feeling  against  her  harsh  Mentor.  The  Empress  had  foreseen 
the  result  of  this  visit,  and  before  it  took  place  she  said  to 
Mercy,  "  I  am  hardly  counting  upon  the  good  effect  of  this 
journey.  If  I  am  not  mistaken,  one  of  two  things  will  result 
from  it  :  either  my  daughter  will  win  the  Emperor  by  her 
affection  and  charm,  or  he  will  irritate  her  by  trying  continu- 
ally to  teach  her.  ...  In  either  case  we  cannot  hope  for  a 
happy  result  from  the  presence  of  the  Emperor."  Maria 
Theresa  had  expressed  strong  hopes  that  her  son  would  not  go 
to  France. 

Joseph's  criticisms  of  the  Court  are  interesting.  According 
to  the  Chancelleries  he  declared  :  "I  have  three  miserable 
The  Emperor's  brothers-in-law.  The  one  at  Versailles  is  an 
Criticisms.  imbecile,  the  one  at  Naples  a  madman,  and  the 
one  at  Parma  an  idiot."  All  the  same  the  Emperor  wrote  on 
July  9,  1777,  to  his  brother  Leopold  :  "  This  man  (Louis  XVI) 
is  a  little  weak,  but  not  an  imbecile.  He  has  ideas  and  a  sound 
judgment,  but  his  body  and  mind  are  apathetic.  He  converses 
reasonably,  but  he  has  no  wish  to  learn  and  no  curiosity ;  in 
fact  the  fiat  lux  has  not  yet  come  ;  the  matter  is  still  without 
form." 

The  Emperor  liked  gaiety  and  animation  in  others,  and  had 
a  favourable  opinion  of  the  Comte  d'Artois.  Mercy  was  afraid 
that  this  might  encourage  the  Queen  to  submit  to  the  influence 
of  her  young  brother-in-law.  Joseph  was  well  aware  that 
Monsieur  d'Artois  was  "  a  coxcomb  in  every  sense  of  the  word," 
but  he  was  amused  by  him.  He  could  not,  on  the  other  hand, 
get  used  to  the  extreme  coldness  of  the  Comte  de  Provence, 
and  spoke  of  the  two  Piedmontese  princesses  in  brief  but  un- 
flattering terms. 

He  was  also  very  harsh  in  his  criticisms  when  he  went  to  a 
party  given  by  the  Princesse  de  Guem^nee,  and  was  shocked 
"  at  the  ill-breeding  "  of  the  guests  and  "  the  air  of  licence 
in  this  lady's  house."  He  said  plainly  to  the  Queen, 
"  that  it  was  like  a  house  of  ill-fame."  As  for  the  Comtesse 
de  Polignac,  Joseph  considered  her  too  young  and  not  suffi- 
ciently intelligent  to  be  a  useful  adviser  to  the  Queen,  but  he 
treated  her  indulgently,  reahzing  that  it  would  be  inadvisable 
to  cross  his  sister  on  this  point. 

251 


THE    EICxHTEENTII    CENTURY 

The  EmjxTor,  in  his  turn,  found  a  not  too  gentle  critic  in 
Monsieur,  Avho  wrote  to  Gustavus  111  :  "He  is  very  insidious 
Monsieur  ^^^  makes  many  protestations  and  vows  of  friend- 

criticizes  the  ship ;  his  mind  is  adorned  by  the  knowledge  of 
Emperor.  many  useful  subjects.  .  .  .  That  is  what  one  sees 

at  the  first  glance.  On  closer  examination,  his  protestations 
and  his  open  appearance  hide  his  intent  to  do  what  is  called  iirer 
Ics  vers  (lu  ncz  (extract  information)  and  to  conceal  his  own  senti- 
ments. But  he  is  maladroit,  for  by  means  of  a  little  flattery, 
to  which  he  is  very  susceptible,  far  from  his  being  able  to  see 
through  anyone,  it  is  very  easy  to  see  through  him,  and  he  then 
throws  all  caution  to  the  winds.  .  .  .  He  talks  a  great  deal,  and 
not  in  an  attractive  manner,  but  it  amuses  him  and  he  repeats 
his  stories  mercilessly."  This  description  receives  some  con- 
firmation from  Maria  Theresa's  criticism  of  her  son  :  "  He 
likes  to  please  and  to  shine,"  and  from  the  judgment  pro- 
nounced by  Frederick  II  :  "  The  Emperor,  though  anxious  for 
knowledge,  had  not  the  patience  to  learn.  His  importance 
made  him  superficial." 

Joseph  made  enemies  ;  particularly  the  Choiseuls  and  their 
faction.  The  Duke  still  had  some  hope  of  returning  to  office, 
Joseph  II  ^rid  he  thought  that  there  could   be  no  better 

offends  the  occasion  to  make  an  attempt  than  the  visit  of 
Choiseuls.  Maria   Theresa's   son,  whom   he   had   known   at 

Vienna.  Choiseul  counted  on  the  services  he  had  formerly 
rendered  to  the  Imperial  Court.  Everything  was  prepared 
magnificently  at  Chanteloup  to  receive  the  Emperor,  who  was 
to  cross  Touraine  on  his  way  to  visit  the  ports  on  the  west  of 
France.  From  the  first  days  after  his  arrival  Joseph  was  ex- 
pected there.  He  met  the  Duehesse  de  Gramont,  Choiseul's 
sister,  at  Madame  de  Brionnc's,  and  asked  her  which  was  the 
most  fertile  province  of  France. 

"  It  is  Touraine,"  she  said,  "  my  brother  has  a  cottage  there, 
he  would  be  the  happiest  of  men  if  he  might  receive  Your 
Majesty." 

The  Emperor  did  not  answer  and  changed  the  conversation. 
Maria  Theresa  was  mortified  at  her  son's  attitude  ;  she  regretted 
that  he  had  disdained  Choiseul,  who  was  not  the  "  man  to 
provoke  beyond  endurance,"  as  it  was  uncertain  "whether 
252 


THE    EMPEROR'S    VISIT 

sooner  or  later  he  would  not  return  to  power."  The  Empress 
was  no  better  pleased  with  her  son's  want  of  tact  on  another 
occasion  :  he  went  to  Luciennes  and  asked  to  see  Madame  du 
Barry  ;  he  was  charmed  with  her.  He  met  her  in  the  garden, 
offered  her  his  arm,  and  chatted  with  her  very  agreeably  for  a 
quarter  of  an  hour.  Maria  Theresa  found  consolation  in  the 
fact  that  on  his  return  the  Emperor  had  passed  without  stopping 
at  Ferney,  where,  as  may  be  imagined,  he  was  awaited  with 
much  impatience. 

Such  are  some  of  the  incidents  of  Joseph's  visit,  but  it  would 
not  be  fair  to  omit  his  final  expression  of  opinion  on  the  subject 
Joseph  II's  of  his  sister,  which  to  some  extent  atones  for  the 
Portrait  of  the  severity  of  the  criticisms  mentioned  above.  He 
Queen.  wrote  to  his  brother  Leopold  from  Brest  on  June  9  : 

"  She  is  a  good  and  lovable  woman,  a  little  young  and  thought- 
less, but  she  has  a  depth  of  goodness  and  virtue  which,  consider- 
ing her  position,  is  worthy  of  the  utmost  respect.  With  it  all 
she  unites  an  intelligence  and  a  soundness  of  perception  which 
have  often  surprised  me.  Her  first  impulse  is  always  correct. 
If  she  would  follow  it  up,  think  a  little  more,  and  listen  a  little 
less  to  the  hosts  of  people  of  all  sorts  who  advise  her,  she  would 
be  perfect.  Her  desire  for  pleasure  is  very  strong,  and  as  her 
taste  is  known,  people  take  advantage  of  this  weakness,  and 
those  who  provide  her  with  the  most  amusement  find  both 
hearing  and  favour."  His  French  style  is  very  Germanic,  but 
it  was  a  true  portrait,  and  we  recognize  in  all  respects  Marie- 
Antoinette  as  she  is  described  by  the  most  trustworthy  accounts 
and  as,  it  may  be  hoped,  she  has  appeared  in  the  preceding 
pages. 

Joseph  left  very  minute  written  instructions  to  his  sister. 
One  passage  from  them  will  show  the  Emperor's  foresight : 
His  Advice  to  "  You  are  made  to  be  happy,  virtuous,  and  perfect, 
his  Sister.  But  it  is  time,  and  more  than  time   to  reflect, 

to  set  up  a  rule  of  life  and  to  act  upon  it.  You  are  getting  older 
and  have  no  longer  the  excuse  of  extreme  youth.  What  will  you 
become  if  you  wait  longer  ?  An  unhappy  woman  and  a  still 
more  unhappy  princess.  .  .  .  Acquire  a  reputation  worthy  of 
your  virtues,  your  charms,  and  your  character,  but  be  true  and 
firm  !     Yes  !    it  is  necessary  to  be  inflexibly  stubborn  in  the 

253 


THE     EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

cause  of  right,  and  to  oppose  all  seducers  "^ith  courage  and 
strength." 

This  was  excellent  and  wise  advice,  but  it  was  difhcult  to 
follow,  like  all  advice,  and  as  usual,  was  given  too  late ; 
it  dealt  with  evils  that  were  ineradicable  and  a  character  already 
formed  and  no  longer  susceptible  of  modification  from  without. 
But  a  change  was  about  to  occur  in  the  Queen's  life,  which  for 
the  time  being  was  to  have  more  influence  than  all  the  moral 
lectures  in  the  world. 

[Principal  Sources.    Same  as  for  preceding  chapter.] 


254 


CHAPTER  XIX 

BIRTH  OF  MADAME  ROYALE 

Independence  of  the  United  States.  Franklin  in  Paris.  His  pre- 
sentation to  Louis.  War  with  England.  The  battle  of  Ouessant. 
The  Bavarian  succession.  The  policy  of  Louis  and  Vergennes. 
Birth  of  Marie-Therese-Charlotte.  The  crowd  invade  the 
Queen's  chamber.  Public  disappointment.  The  education  of 
the  Princess.  Marie-Antoinette's  confessions  to  her  mother. 
Family  life.     Marie-Antoinette  and  her  children. 

ON  July  4,  1776,  the  English  flag  floating  in  the  ocean 
breezes  of  America  was  replaced  by  the  flag  with  the 
thirteen  stars  and  thirteen  stripes,  which  symbolized  the 
independence  of  the  thirteen  United  States.  The  "  instirgents, " 
American  as  they  were  called,  found  in  Jefferson  an  able 

Independence,  orator,  in  Franklin  a  wise  counsellor,  and  in 
Washington  an  incomparable  administrator  and  general.  They 
won  France  to  their  cause,  for  the  latter  had  the  courage  to  ally 
herself  to  them  in  the  hope  of  avenging  the  disasters  of  the 
Seven  Years  War.  The  resulting  operations  were  one  of  the 
brighter  pages  in  the  reign  of  Louis  XVI.  The  King  was  ably 
assisted  by  Vergennes,  who  took  charge  of  the  more  important 
diplomatic  negotiations,  among  others,  those  with  Charles  III 
of  Spain,  who  interfered  by  right  of  the  Family  Compact,  and 
by  the  Marquis  de  La  Fayette  and  a  large  staff  of  French  officers, 
who  crossed  over  to  the  New  World  and  fought  bravely  side  by 
side  with  the  American  colonists. 

The  Congress  of  Philadelphia  sent  ambassadors  over  to 
Em'ope  to  plead  the  American  cause,  and  to  bring  about  a 
Franklin  in  reaction  against  England,  who  refused  to  allow 
Paris.  herself  to  be  beaten.     Franklin  was  sent  to  France. 

His  pleasant  manners  and  dignity  helped  to  conciliate  the 
scientists,  the  men  of  letters,  the  philosophers,  the  great  nobles 
the  Court,  and  the  King.     In  February  1778,  he  secured  the 

255 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

signature  of  a  treaty  with  the  United  States,  a  treaty  which  was 
to  become  an  aUianee  in  case  England  should  declare  war  on 
France.  Each  party  pledged  itself  to  conclude  neither  peace 
nor  truce  without  the  consent  of  the  other.  The  Independence 
was  thus  officially  recognized,  though  even  before,  help  had 
been  secretly  dispatched  by  Louis'  order,  under  the  auspices  of 
Beaumarchais,  a  clever  man  of  business  as  well  as  a  brilliant 
author. 

Franklin  was  presented  at  Versailles  on  March  20,  The 
handsome  old  man  made  a  picturesque  figure,  with  his  spectacles, 
his  bald  head,  and  his  patriarchal  appearance.  People  pressed 
about  his  path  as  though  he  were  some  strange  novelty.  It 
was  not  usual  at  the  courtly  ceremonies  to  sec  the  homely 
honesty,  the  simple  dress,  and  the  absence  of  luxury  charac- 
teristic of  Franklin.  The  worthy  American  wore  a  brown  coat 
and  carried  a  stick  in  place  of  a  sword.  He  was  accompanied 
by  two  deputies,  Silas  Deane  and  Arthur  Lee.  The  King  was 
the  fu-st  to  speak,  and  he  spoke  with  "  more  graciousness  " 
than  usual. 

"  Assure  the  Congress  of  my  friendship,"  he  said.  "  I  hope 
that  this  will  benefit  both  nations." 

"Your  Majesty,"  replied  Franklin,  "may  count  on  the 
gratitude  of  the  Congress,  and  on  its  fidelity  to  its  engagements." 

"It  is  certain,"  added  Vergennes,  "that  nothing  could  be 
wiser  or  more  circumspect  than  the  conduct  of  these  gentlemen 
when  they  were  here." 

The  Due  de  Croy,  who  records  these  remarks,  makes  the 
following  commentary  :  "  It  was  a  treaty  between  nation  and 
War  with  nation,  the  Congress  was  formally  recognized,  and 

England.  with  it   the   Independence  by  France  before  all 

others.  To  wliat  thoughts  does  this  great  event  give  rise  ! 
First,  if  successful,  it  was  a  cruel  blow  struck  at  England,  and 
liighly  advantageous  to  French  commerce.  Secondly,  it  meant 
an  implacable  war,  and  perhaps  the  creation  of  a  country 
vaster  than  France,  which  might  one  day  subdue  Europe." 

It  was,  in  fact,  a  declaration  of  war.  Lord  Stormont,  His 
Britannic  Majesty's  ambassador,  was  recalled.  The  year  1778 
was  marked  by  French  successes  on  the  sea,  such  as  the  exploits 
of  the  Belle-Poule  against  the  English  frigate  Arethusa  off  Brest, 
256 


BIRTH    OF    MADAME    ROYALE 

and  the  engagement  of  Ouessant  on  July  27,  where  the  Comtc 
d'OrviUiers,  and  with  him  Du  Chaffault,  Guichen,  and  La  Motte- 
Piquet,  distinguished  themselves  by  their  victory  over  Admiral 
Keppel.  D'Estaing,  however,  was  beaten  on  the  sea  ofT  Rhode 
Island  and  off  St.  Lucia  in  August,  and  the  English  took  Pondi- 
cherry  in  October. 

At  the  same  time  another  war  seemed  imminent  in  Germany 
over  the  succession  to  Maximilian  Joseph  of  Bavaria,  who  had 
The  Bavarian  died  on  December  30,  1777.  Joseph  II,  in  his 
Succession.  anxiety  to  establish  ancient  though  shadowy 
claims  and  to  increase  his  territories,  aroused  the  susceptibilities 
of  Frederick  by  occupying  all  Lower  Bavaria  and  treating  it  as 
a  fief  of  the  Empire.  The  King  of  Prussia  replied  by  putting 
two  armies  into  the  field  and  threatening  to  enter  Bohemia. 
Maria  Theresa,  who  did  not  approve  of  her  son's  warlike  humour, 
believed  the  unhappy  days  of  1741  were  about  to  recur,  and  that 
she  would  lose  Bohemia  as  she  had  lost  her  dear  Silesia.  But  all 
that  happened  was  a  few  skirmishes  ;  there  were  no  sieges  or 
pitched  battles.  However,  Austria  demanded  of  France  the 
24,000  troops  stipulated  by  the  treaty  of  1756,  or  in  default, 
15,000,000  livres.  The  French  ministers  were  fully  occupied 
with  the  events  in  America  and  turned  a  deaf  ear  to  this  appeal. 
Marie-Antoinette  received  message  after  message  from  Vienna  ; 
at  first  she  resisted,  fearing  that  her  brother  might  be  playing 
his  own  game.  But  the  Empress  declared  that  the  rupture  of 
the  Franco- Austrian  alliance  would  "  be  her  death."  The 
Queen,  in  great  distress,  took  the  interests  of  her  family  in  hand, 
saying  that  she  was  serving  both  her  countries,  but  she  did  not 
understand  the  exigencies  of  the  new  French  policy.  She  failed 
in  her  efforts. 

The  policy  of  Louis  and  Vergennes  remained  constant  and 
wise,  and  was  extremely  creditable  to  them.  "  The  ambition 
Policy  of  of    your    relations,"    said  the    King    to    Marie- 

Louis  XVI  and  Antoinette,  "  will  ruin  all.  They  have  begun 
Vergennes.  ^ith  Poland;  and  now  Bavaria  is  to  be  the 
second  chapter.  I  am  sorry  for  your  sake.  We  are  going  to 
order  the  French  ministers  to  inform  all  the  Courts  that  this 
dismemberment  of  Bavaria  is  being  done  against  our  wishes, 
and  that  we  disapprove  of  it."     Neither  the  King  nor  his 

K  257 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

Minister  wavered  from  this  line  of  conduct,  and  the  Queen's 
tears  had  no  elTcct  on  their  resohition.  Both  did  the  right 
thiiifT  when  at  the  time  of  the  Peace  of  Teschen,  May  13,  1779, 
Avhieh  put  an  end  to  the  Emperor's  ambitions  they  acted  as 
mediators  between  Prussia  and  Austria.  The  latter  only 
secured  some  insignificant  portions  of  Bavarian  territory. 

Thus  a  continental  war  was  avoided.     Vergennes  honourably 

refused  the  advantageous  offers  of  Joseph,  who  suggested  that 

France  should  provoke  Prussia  and  Holland  by  occupying  the 

Netherlands.     He  thus  guaranteed  peace  on  land  and  was  able 

to  concentrate  his  attention  on  national  and  profitable  schemes 

which  he  conceived  and  carried  out  in  a  statesmanlike  manner. 

At  this  crisis — on  December  20, 1778 — the  Queen  gave  birth 

to     a     daughter,    Maria-Ther^se-Charlotte,     Madame     Royale, 

Birth  of  afterwards  Duchesse  d'Angoulemc,  and  the  only 

Madame  one    of   Louis    XVI's    family   who    survived   the 

Royale.  Revolution.*     The    crowd     which    invaded    the 

young  mother's  chamber  on  the  announcement  of  the  event 

was  so  great  that  Marie-Antoinette  was  almost  sufl'ocated  by 

the  human  flood.     The  Queen  suddenly  grew  })ale,  her  mouth 

was  convulsed,  and  they  thought  her  dead.     The  King  himself 

opened  the  windows  and  ordered  warm  water  for  the  bleeding, 

but  in  the  press  and  confusion  he  could  not  get  it.     The  surgeon 

lanced  her  foot  "  dry  "  ;   the  blood  spurted  out  and  the  Queen 

opened  her  eyes.     Fresh  disturbance  was  caused  when  they 

sent  the  people  out ;    the  Princesse  dc  Lamballe  was  carried 

away  fainting.      The  men-servants  and  the  ushers    took  the 

indiscreet  sightseers  by  the  collars  and  pushed  them  out ;  in 

the    future  this   cruel  etiquette   was  abolished   and   only  the 

Princes,  the  Chancellor,  and  the  Ministers  were  admitted  in 

like  circumstances. 

VN  hen  the  young  Princess  was  presented  to  the  Queen  she 
pressed  her  to  her  heart  and  said  to  her  :  "  Poor  little  one,  you 
were  not  wanted,  but  you  will  be  none  the  less  dear  to  me.  A 
son  would  have  belonged  to  the  State.  You  will  be  mine  ;  you 
will  be  all  my  own,  you  will  share  my  happiness,  and  soften 
my  sorrows." 

Tlie  Court  and  the  town  were  in  fact  extremely  disappointed. 
»  She  lived  until  1851. 
258 


BIRTH    OF    MADAME    ROYALE 

They  had  hoped  for  a  Dauphin.  The  projected  fetes  did  not 
take  place  ;  the  King  placed  at  the  Queen's  disposal  100,000 
Disappointment  Hvres,  which  she  used  to  provide  dowries  for  poor 
of  the  Nation,  girls,  to  free  some  that  were  in  prison  for  debt, 
and  to  distribute  alms  to  the  hospitals.  The  Town  Council 
ordered  the  customary  popular  rejoicings  :  illuminations,  fire- 
works, fountains  of  wine,  distributions  of  bread  and  saveloys, 
and  free  spectacles  at  the  theatres,  but  the  joy  was  only  half- 
hearted. When  the  King  and  Queen  went  to  Paris  on  February 
8,  1779,  there  were  few  cheers,  and  it  was  remarked  that  the 
main  instinct  of  the  populace  was  one  of  curiosity. 

An  innovation  was  made  at  the  birth  of  Madame  Royale 
due  to  the  fact  that  the  "  return  to  nature  "  and  "  simplicity 
The  Education  of  manners,"  as  preached  by  Rousseau,  were  the 
o£  the  fashion.     All  signs  of  pomp  were  kept  from  the 

Princess.  Princess'  sight  at  the  request  of  Marie- Antoinette 

herself.  Maria  Theresa  when  she  heard  of  this  "  reform  "  con- 
demned it.  She  already  saw  her  granddaughter  transformed 
into  a  peasant  girl,  and  she  clung  to  the  claims  of  rank  even  in 
the  cradle.  "  It  is  an  essential  point,"  she  wrote  to  Mercy, 
"especially  with  the  French  nation,  as  ardent  as  it  is  fickle." 
The  Empress  thought  that  the  Sovereign  and  his  family  should 
differentiate  themselves  "  from  private  persons  by  means  of 
ceremony."  However,  the  infant's  household,  though  reduced, 
still  numbered  eighty  persons  entirely  devoted  to  her  service. 

The  Queen  occupied  herself  with  her  daughter,  her  life 
became  more  serious  and  a  new  era  commenced.  The  truth 
of  this  was  shown  by  a  confession  she  made  to  Maria  Theresa,  six 
months  after  the  birth  :  "  If  I  have  done  wrong,  it  was  through 
childishness  and  lightness,  but  now  my  head  is  more  steady, 
and  she  [the  Empress]  may  rest  assured  that  I  fully  realize  my 
duties  on  this  point.  Besides,  I  owe  it  to  the  King  for  his 
tenderness,  and,  I  may  be  permitted  to  say,  his  trust  in  me,  on 
which  I  can  only  congratulate  myself  more  and  more."  She 
spoke  much  of  the  little  Princess  ;  to  quote  one  charming 
instance,  she  wrote  in  March  1780  :  "  They  are  soon  going  to 
take  her  out  of  bed  ;  she  is  big  and  strong ;  one  would  think 
her  a  child  of  two  years  old.  She  walks  alone,  stoops  and 
straightens  herself  again  without  being  held,  but  she  hardly 

259 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

speaks  at  all.  I  am  going  to  confide  to  my  dear  mother's 
tender  heart  a  happiness  that  I  had  four  days  ago.  I  was  with 
several  other  people  in  my  daughter's  room,  so  I  told  some  one 
to  ask  her  where  her  mother  was.  The  little  one,  without  any- 
one saying  a  word  to  her,  smiled  at  me  and  came  and  held  out 
her  arms  to  me.  It  is  the  first  time  that  she  has  deigned  to 
recognize  me.  I  confess  that  it  gave  me  great  pleasure,  and  I 
think  I  have  loved  her  much  more  ever  since." 

If  Marie-Antoinette  had  known  earlier  the  happiness  of 
being  a  mother,  she  would  not  have  sought  distraction  from 
her  want  of  occupation  and  ennui  in  futile  amusements.  She 
would  not  have  had  time  to  listen  to  flatterers  and  selfish  ad- 
visers, nor  to  take  part  in  intrigues  and  cabals.  Calumny  would 
have  been  disarmed,  rendered  powerless  over  an  existence  in 
which  the  smiles  and  the  tears  of  her  children  are  the  mother's 
only  joys  and  sorrows. 

Marie-Antoinette  loved  her  daughter  and  her  sons  tenderly, 
one  might  almost  say  intelligently,  as  is  shown  in  her  letters 
The  Queen's  to  Madame  de  Tourzcl,  General  Jarjayes,  and 
Love  for  her  especially  in  her  beautiful  letter  to  Madame 
Children.  Elisabeth,  which   one   cannot   read   but  through 

a  mist  of  tears.  It  is  dated  October  16,  1793,  at  half-past 
four  in  the  morning  :  "I  am  \n'iting  to  you,  my  sister,  for  the 
last  time.  I  have  just  been  condemned,  not  to  a  shameful 
death,  for  it  is  only  shameful  for  criminals,  but  to  rejoin  your 
brother.  ...  I  am  deeply  grieved  at  having  to  leave  my  poor 
children.*  You  know  that  I  exist  for  them  and  you  alone,  my 
kind  and  loving  sister,  .  .  .  may  my  daughter  realize  that  at 
her  age  she  should  always  help  her  brother  with  the  advice  with 
which  her  wider  experience  and  her  love  may  inspire  her  I 
May  my  son  never  forget  his  father's  last  words,  which  I  repeat 
to  this  end  :  Let  him  never  seek  to  avenge  our  death. 
Adieu,  my  kind  and  loving  sister  !  I  hope  this  letter  will  reach 
you  !  Think  of  me  always  !  I  embrace  you  with  all  my  heart, 
you  and  my  poor  dear  children.  Ah,  God  !  how  heartrending 
it  is  to  leave  them  for  ever.  ..." 

*  Madamo  Royalc  and  the  Due  dc  Normandie,  who  was  born  in  1785 
and  became  Dauphin  at  the  death  of  his  elder  brother  in  1789  ;    he  was 
{he  Cliild  of  the  Temple. 
2G0 


CHAPTER  XX 

END  OF  THE  AMERICAN  WAR 
1779-1783 

Necker's  economies.  Abolition  of  rights  of  serfdom.  Royal 
concessions.  Projected  invasion  of  England.  Segur  and  Castries. 
Maria  Theresa's  pupil.  Capitulation  of  Yorktown.  Fall  of 
Necker.  Joly  de  Fleury.  Birth  of  the  Dauphin.  Festivities  in 
Paris  and  Versailles.  IDeath  of  Maurepas.  Bankruptcy  of  the 
Prince  de  Guemen^e.  Overtures  for  peace.  Siege  of  Gibraltar. 
Suffren  in  India.    Treaties  of  Paris  and  Versailles. 

WHILE  the  war  lasted  there  was  a  complete  renewal 
of  confidence  in  the  French  armies  and  the  policy  of 
Louis  and  Vergennes.  Economy  was  strictly  im- 
posed. The  journeys  of  the  Court  were  abandoned  to  purchase 
Necker's  ships.     Private  individuals  made  public  subscrip- 

Economies.  tions  to  assist  the  Treasury  to  defray  the  enormous 
expenses  which  burdened  the  State.  Necker  taxed  his  ingenuity 
and  effected  numerous  retrenchments  in  the  budget ;  he 
abolished  406  posts  in  the  King's  Household,  and  reduced  the 
number  of  Farmers  of  Taxes  and  Receivers-General.  His 
economies  extended  over  the  royal  candle-sellers  and  in 
allusion  to  this  the  Minister  was  accused  of  wishing  "  to  burn 
the  short  ends  "  ;   he  was  overwhelmed  with  pamphlets. 

The  financial  relief  caused  by  these  reforms  enabled  the 
King  to  forgo  the  rights  of  serfdom  and  mainmorte.*  Louis 
Royal  had  desired  to  go  still  further  and  abolish  these 

Concessions.  harsh  relics  of  feudalism  altogether,  but  the  re- 
sources of  the  State  were  not  yet  sufficient  to  enable  him  to 
buy  the  rights  of  the  nobles.  He  at  least  hoped  to  see  his 
example  followed  and  be  in  time  "  a  witness  of  the  complete 
enfranchisement  of  his  subjects,"  who,  as  he  asserted  in  his 

*  Mainmorte  :  a  feudal  custom  by  which  serfs  were  not  allowed  to 
make  a  will,  and  if  they  died  without  heirs  the  lord  succeeded. 

261 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

edict  of  AiifTiist  1779,  whatever  the  state  in  xchich  Prov'ulcnee  has 
ordained  their  birth,  have  equal  rights  to  his  protection  and  favour. 
Necker  in  dictating  these  words  to  the  King,  remembered 
Tiirgot,  and  Louis  in  signing  them  won  the  just  admiration  of 
all  the  friends  of  philosophy.  But  these  measures,  though  they 
gave  an  example  to  certain  of  the  nobility,  were  not  approved 
by  cither  the  higher  Clergy  or  the  Parliament. 

Private  interests  superseded  everything  in  this  assembly 
composed  of  the  owners  of  estates.  In  consequence  the  edict 
was  only  registered  with  the  addition  of  express  restrictions. 
The  King's  brothers,  the  Due  crOrlcans  and  the  Prince  de 
Conde  were  among  the  malcontents  ;  they  asserted  that  the 
innovations  "  injured  their  privileges,"  and  that  they  "  debased 
the  Crown  by  depriving  it  of  its  prestige." 

The  liberal  movement  had  commenced.  Necker,  profiting 
by  this  favourable  tendency,  prepared  the  way  for  other 
reforms  which  afl'ected  him  more  nearly.  He  demanded  that 
Protestants  should  be  allowed  a  civil  status,  and  later  that  they 
should  be  eligible  for  public  ofBces.  However,  this  reform  was 
not  realized  until  1788.  But  the  new  ideas  took  definite  shape 
in  acts  of  a  humanitarian  nature.  The  preliminary  torture 
{question  preparatoire)  which  was  a))plied  to  the  accused  person 
to  extort  a  confession  of  the  crime  imputed  to  him,  was  sup- 
pressed at  this  time,  though  judicial  torture  was  not  altogether 
abolished  until  1788. 

Thus  royalty  foreshadowed  the  reforms  of  the  Revolution. 
The  patriotic  fervour  of  the  nation  was  upheld  by  the  conduct 
La  Fayette  in  of  La  Fayette,  who  returned  from  the  New  World 
America.  in  February  1779,  to  urge  the  disj)ateh  of  troops 

to  help  the  insurgents.  He  secured  4000  soldiers  under  the 
command  of  Roehambcau,  and  personally  formed  the  project 
of  an  invasion  of  England.  This  expedition  was  to  be  sujiported 
by  Spain.  The  preparations  were  extremely  slow  ;  France's 
allies  made  her  wait  for  them  at  the  rendezvous  and  so  the 
project  failed.  The  Comte  d'Orvilliers,  who  had  greatly  dis- 
tinguished himself  in  the  engagement  at  Ouessant,  returned  to 
Brest  in  October  1779,  having  lost  50,000  men  by  disease.  He 
was  forced  to  send  in  his  resignation.  It  was  rcjjortcd  that 
d'Estaing  had  captured  Grenada  in  the  Antilles  on  July  10  and 
262 


END    OF    THE    AMERICAN    WAR 

that  Saint  Louis  in  Senegal,  Gorea,  and  Saint-Vincent,  had  been 
taken,  a  small  consolation,  for  d'Estaing  himself  was  defeated 
at  Savannah  in  Georgia  and  returned  like  d'Orvillicrs,  the 
object  of  general  condemnation. 

Hostilities  were  continued  outside  France  by  Spain  on  her 
own  account.  The  sailors  of  Charles  III  thought  only  of  them- 
Siege  oJ  selves.     Spain  had  not  been  mistress  of  Gibraltar 

Gibraltar.  since   1704,   and  she  believed  the  moment  had 

arrived  to  retake  the  fortress  from  the  English.  Vergennes 
promised  the  Spanish  not  to  sign  a  peace  until  the  desired 
capture  had  been  effected  ;  but  the  enterprise  could  not  con- 
tend against  the  hardihood  of  Rodney.  In  spite  of  the  valour 
of  Don  Juan  de  Langara,  it  failed  in  January,  1780. 

The  Spaniards  and  French  found  themselves  confronted  by 
the  same  Rodney  off  the  Antilles  in  June,  but  the  engagements 
were  negative,  and  there  was  no  revenge  as  yet. 

At  the  time  of  these  events  Necker  was  occupied  with  the 
delicate  task  of  appointing  two  new  Ministers — for  the  Navy 
and  War.  Sartine  had  occupied  the  former  post 
De  Castries.  since  1776  ;  on  his  accession  to  power  he  had 
said  "  that  he  knew  nothing  of  a  ship  "  and  that  he  had  "  very 
vague  notions  as  to  the  four  quarters  of  the  world."  But 
practice  makes  perfect,  and  it  was  recognized  that  "  never  had 
Minister  built  so  many  vessels  or  supplied  the  ports  better." 
Necker,  however,  had  to  complain  of  the  finances  of  his  depart- 
ment, and  secured  Sartine's  disgrace.  He  was  succeeded  by 
the  Marquis  de  Castries,  father-in-law  of  the  Comte  (now  Due) 
de  Guines.  The  appointment  was  made  by  favour,  but  was 
justified  by  the  services  rendered  by  this  able  officer,  the  victor 
of  Klosterkampen.  He  was  devoted  to  his  new  task.  His 
intervention  in  the  Anglo-American  conflict  was  successful,  and 
he  published  certain  salutary  ordinances.  In  1787  he  gave  up 
his  place  with  honour  to  Montmorin. 

Montbarrey,  Sartine's  colleague  at  the  War  Department,  was 
notoriously  incapable.    The  Marquis  de  Segur  took  the  office  in 
hand  and  he  also  distinguished  himself  by  excellent 
De  Segur.  reforms.     Owing  to  him  the  monarchy  bequeathed 

an  army  to  the  Revolution,  an  army  which,  by  its  discipline 
and  devotion  to  duty,  was  to  serve  the  Republican  cause.     In 

263 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

justice  it  must  be  remembered  that  it  is  to  him  tliat  the  soldiers 
of  Vahuy  and  Jcmniapcs  owed  their  prowess.  It  is  true  that 
Segur  has  been  reproached  for  his  support  of  caste  and  his  un- 
compromising decision  of  May  22, 1781,  to  exclude  the  bourgeoisie 
and  many  of  the  lesser  nobility  from  military  command.  Thence- 
forward no  one  was  eligible  for  the  rank  of  officer  unless  he  could 
prove  his  nobility  for  four  generations.  Nevertheless,  with  the 
assistance  of  Montalembert,  who  introduced  a  new  system  of 
fortification,  and  Gribeauval,  who  improved  the  efficiency  of  the 
artillery,  Segur  organized  great  technical  improvements.  His 
successor,  the  Comte  de  Brienne,  the  Cardinal's  brother,  con- 
tinued his  work,  and  provided  for  the  mobilization  of  the  army 
in  1788  by  dividing  all  the  forces  into  twenty-one  divisions  and 
the  divisions  into  brigades. 

The  Queen,  still  under  the  influence  of  the  Polignaes,  had  a 
direct  share  in  the  appointments  of  Castries  and  S6gur,  with 
which  no  fault  could  be  found.  Marie-Antoinette  began  to 
interest  herself  in  affairs  of  State,  but  it  was  her  intimates  who 
reaped  the  advantage.  There  is  little  doubt  that  Mercy  was 
right  when  he  wrote  to  Kaunitz  in  June  1783  :  "  the  Queen's 
influence,  so  widespread  and  beneficent  in  all  other  matters,  is 
nuieh  less  so  in  those  which  touch  on  politics,  for  the  Queen 
has  given  her  august  husband  only  too  much  reason  to  presume 
that  she  knows  little  of  affairs  of  State,  and  is  unable  to  estimate 
their  importance." 

Mercy  was  now  free,  and  dared  to  say  here  what  he  would 
not  have  said  while  Maria  Theresa  was  living.  The  Empress 
Death  of  had  died  on  November  29,  1780.     Since  177-1,  she 

Maria  Theresa,  had  urged  her  daughter  to  take  part  in  the  govern- 
ment, though  on  the  whole  her  pupil  responded  badly  to  her 
lessons.  Marie-Antoinette  acted  only  by  caprice  and  without 
reflection.  She  remained  too  much  of  a  woman  for  it  to  be  safe 
to  entrust  her  with  any  serious  undertaking.  She  had  heart 
and  feeling,  but  in  polities  these  are  not  enough.  The  Queen's 
ascendency  had  always  to  be  reckoned  with  after  1780,  and 
everything  tended  to  increase  it.  Louis'  afTeetion  could  refuse 
nothing  to  Marie- Antoinette,  and  his  liopes  of  the  birth  of  a 
Dauphin  increased  his  tenderness  for  her. 

There  seemed  to  be  the  happiest  auspices  for  this  event. 
264 


END    OF    THE    AMERICAN    WAR 

France  was  cheered  by  the  news  of  brilliant  victories  in  America. 
La  Fayette,  Rochambeau,  Guichcn,  and  the  Marquis  de 
Successes  in  Saint-Simon  served  with  success  in  Washington's 
America.  cause  during  the  year  1780,  which  culminated  in 

the  defence  of  Chesapeake  Bay  and  the  capitulation  of  York- 
town  on  October  19.  Here  7000  men,  forming  the  flower  of 
the  English  troops  in  America,  surrendered.  The  independence 
of  the  United  States  was  assured,  but  to  save  her  pride  England 
would  not  own  herself  defeated.  French  arms  and  diplomacy 
triumphed. 

In  face  of  these  great  events  the  cabals  which  overthrew 
Necker  seem  paltry.  It  was  commonly  said  that  a  battle  lost 
would  have  been  better  for  France  than  the  Minister's  resigna- 
tion, but  it  was  not  seriously  meant.  However,  his  fall  was 
a  disaster. 

In  January  1781,  Necker  made  a  great  innovation  which 
was  his  ruin.  He  issued  his  famous  Compte  rendu  which  for 
Necker's  the  first  time  enabled  the  public  to  read  in  black 

Compte  rendu,  and  white  the  situation  of  the  finances.  Copies  of 
it  were  greedily  devoured  and  it  was  said  that  this  "  admirable  " 
document  "  would  mark  an  ever  glorious  epoch  in  the  annals 
of  the  monarchy."  But  there  were  no  lack  of  detractors  ; 
some  declared  that  the  Compte  rendu  was  the  work  of  a  con- 
ceited Minister  infatuated  with  his  own  importance,  others 
that  it  was  the  work  of  "  a  charlatan."  The  sudden  light 
thrown  on  abuses  alarmed  the  numerous  and  avaricious  birds  of 
prey  who  existed  to  the  detriment  of  the  Treasury,  and  Necker 
had  to  be  sacrificed.  In  1778  he  had  presented  to  the  King, 
and  to  the  King  alone,  a  memorandum  on  provincial  administra- 
tion. Relying  on  strict  secrecy  he  allowed  himself  to  use 
strong  expressions  against  the  Intendants,  and  still  more  against 
the  Parliaments,  with  the  object  of  awakening  Louis  from  his 
apathy.  But  the  document  was  divulged  and  copies  came 
before  the  notice  of  those  concerned.  A  violent  criticism  ap- 
peared, entitled  Lettre  d'un  bon  Frangais.  Maurepas  should 
have  saved  Necker,  but  he  in  fact  helped  to  injure 
him  with  the  King  ;  as  usual,  while  outwardly 
approving  the  Director's  system,  he  was  chiefly  instrumental 
in  preventing  its  success.     On  May  20,  Necker's  resignation  was 

265 


tup:  eighteenth  century 

accepted,  in  spite  of  the  Queen,  who  supported  him  to  the  end 
as  "  a  man  who  had  become  so  useful  to  France." 

Louis  declared,  however,  that  "  though  he  had  changed  his 
Minister  he  had  not  changed  his  principles."  Joly  dc  Flcury, 
Necker's  successor,  reversed  his  reforms  and  brought  about  a 
complete  reaction.  He  re-established  the  Receivers-general, 
Treasurers,  Farmers  of  taxes,  and  Ollicers  of  the  King's  house- 
hold. This  retrograde  step  advertised  the  uncertainty  and 
contradictions  of  the  Government. 

But  at  this  time  the  nmch-desired  Dauphin  was  born,  on 
October  22,  1781.  Ephemeral  heir  to  a  tottering  throne,  he 
Birth  of  the  only  lived  until  1789.  The  infant  was  greeted  by 
Daupliin.  magnificent  and  costly  festivities,   in  which  the 

people  joined  with  sincere  rejoicings,  yet  there  were  murmurings 
of  hostility  in  Paris,  and  the  police  were  vigilant  and  took  ex- 
traordinary precautions  for  fear  of  trouble.  Threatening 
placards  appeared  on  the  walls  of  the  capital,  in  one  of  which  it 
was  said  that  the  King  and  Queen  "  should  be  conducted  to 
the  Place  dc  Greve  under  a  strong  escort,  that  they  should  go 
to  the  H6tel-de-Ville  and  confess  their  crimes,  and  that  then 
they  should  ascend  a  scaffold  and  be  burnt  alive."  These  grim 
words  were  posted  on  January  21,  1782,  the  day  fixed  for  the 
festivities,  and  exactly  eleven  years  before  Louis'  death. 

At  Versailles  the  Arts  and  Crafts  of  Paris  came  in  a  body 
to  dt  file  in  picturesque  procession  before  the  Chateau  with  bands 
at  their  head.  The  sweeps,  bedecked  like  players,  had  a 
chimney  at  the  top  of  which  was  perched  one  of  the  smallest  of 
their  companions.  The  chairmen  brought  a  nurse  and  a  dolphin 
(dauphin),  and  the  butchers  a  fat  ox,  Tlie  locksmiths  beat  an 
anvil.  The  shoemakers  were  making  a  pair  of  boots  for  the 
royal  child  and  the  tailors  the  uniform  of  liis  regiment.  Finally 
came  the  gravcdiggers  with  the  implements  of  their  craft — a 
pleasantry  which  might  almost  have  been  insj)ired  by  the  autiiors 
of  the  threatening  placards.  This  element  was  quickly  suppressed. 

The  Queen's  influence  increased,  as  has  been  already  noted, 
but  on  occasion  tliis  influence  was  controlled.  Thus  when 
Death  of  Maurepas,    old    and    broken    in    health,    though 

Maiirepas.  witty  still,   died  on  November  21,   1781,  Marie- 

Antoinette's  circle  in  vain  made  an  assault  on  the  vacant 
266 


END    OF    THE    AMERICAN    WAR 

ministry.  Louis  XVI,  as  the  Due  dc  Croy  informs  us,  remained 
impenetrable,  and  would  not  allow  any  notion  to  get  about  as 
to  the  probable  successor  to  this  important  post.  "  It  was," 
he  says,  "  one  of  the  great  crises  of  the  reign  and  every  one 
waited  for  him.  Since  there  was  not,  on  his  part,  the  slightest 
suggestion  or  sign  which  could  show  what  he  intended  to  do,  it 
was  amusing  for  a  philosophical  spectator  to  see  the  astonish- 
ment of  the  intriguers,  and  their  stupefaction."  The  Court 
was  transformed.  Vergennes,  as  became  a  skilled  diplomat, 
gave  evasive  answers  to  the  importunate  place-hunters,  who, 
not  knowing  to  whom  they  should  apply,  found  the  door  shut 
in  their  faces  ;  their  overtures,  smiles,  and  bows  were  wasted 
on  air.  "  To  understand  the  general  paralysis  at  Versailles," 
says  de  Croy  with  some  subtlety,  "  it  must  be  remembered  that 
courtiers  seem  to  find  it  absolutely  incumbent  on  them  to  know 
on  whom  they  should  fawn,  whether  it  be  the  Chief  Minister, 
his  confessor,  his  body-servant,  or  his  friends  ...  it  is  essential 
to  fawn  on  some  one.  Judge  then  of  their  astonishment ;  they 
knew  no  longer  whither  to  turn.'''' 

Maurepas  was  not  replaced.  Louis  was  stronger  than  people 
thought.  He  managed  to  be  firm  on  this  occasion  and  he  had 
The  De  ^^  argument  in  his  favour — the  war,  and  a  perfect 

Gu6m§n6e's  adviser,  Vergennes.  It  must  be  mentioned  that 
Bankruptcy.  the  Court  had  just  received  a  severe  and  most  dis- 
concerting lesson  ;  the  Prince  de  Rohan  Guemenee  was  declared 
bankrupt  with  liabilities  of  33,000,000  livres.  The  extravagant 
living  and  undisciplined  luxury  of  this  family,  whose  head  was 
the  unfortunate  Marechal  de  Soubise  of  the  Seven  Years  War, 
had  excited  too  much  envy  for  their  failure  to  awaken  much 
sympathy.  The  Prince  de  Guemenee's  fall  left  open  the  re- 
versions of  the  offices  of  Grand  Chamberlain  and  Captain  of  the 
Gendarmes  of  the  Guard.  His  wife,  who  was  Governess  to  the 
Children  of  France,  was  obliged  to  resign  her  functions,  which 
were  then  oflered  to  the  Duchesse  de  Polignac.  The  scandal 
was  immense  ;  there  was  a  general  outcry  among  the  people. 
The  men  of  the  Revolution  bore  in  mind  this  fall  of  one  of  the 
most  important  of  the  princely  houses. 

In  the  meantime  progress  was  being  made  towards  peace. 
England  had  defeated  the  French  and  Spanish  fleets  off  the 

267 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

Leeward  Isles  in  February  1782  ;  and  being  thus  able  to 
treat  with  honour,  the  British  Cabinet  was  ready  to  open 
Blockade  ol  negotiations.  But  Charles  IH  wished  to  have  the 
Gibraltar.  last  word  at  Gibraltar,  and  tired  of  the  siege,  he 

tried  to  blockade  the  impregnable  rock.  The  allied  forces  were 
unable  to  cut  oIT  the  food-supply  of  the  English,  so  the  result 
of  their  action  was  negative.  Colonel  d'Ar9on's  floating  batteries 
were  used  during  this  campaign,  but  without  success.  The 
Comte  d'Artois  went  as  a  volunteer  to  the  army  encamped  at 
San  Roque.  He  made  a  triumphal  progress  from  Paris  to  the 
court  of  the  King  of  Spain  at  San  Ildcfonso  ;  then  he  joined  in  the 
military  manoeuvres,  without  undue  haste.  But  he  had  the  good 
taste  to  be  modest  on  his  return.  A  flatterer,  says  the  Baronne 
d'Oberkich,  spoke  to  him  of  the  dangers  he  had  incurred. 

"  There  was  no  glory  there,"  he  answered,  "  and  1  hold  it  very 
cheap.  Of  all  my  batteries,  the  one  that  did  most  harm  during 
the  siege  was  my  batierie  de  cuisine.  For  the  Spaniards,  who  are 
used  to  living  on  raw  onions,  a  crayfish  jelly  was  deadly  poison." 

Happily,  Suffren  performed  marvels  in  India.  He  won 
three  splendid  victories  and  assured  some  Asiatic  possessions  to 
Peace  with  France,  thus  putting  her  in  a  good  position  on 
England.  the  eve  of  the  peace,  which  was  signed  on  Sep- 

tember 9,  1783.  The  treaties  of  Paris  and  Versailles  were  the 
first  treaties  which  had  been  profitable  to  France  since  1738.  The 
Chancelleries,  and  particularly  that  of  Vienna,  praised  Vergenne's 
wisdom  in  stopping  in  time  and  showing  himself  satisfied  with 
modest  advantages.  Dunkirk  was  freed  from  the  presence  of 
the  English  commissioner  who  was  there  to  inspect  the  French 
ships.  France  gained  Senegal,  St.  Pierre  and  Miquelon,  St. 
Lucia,  Tobago  and  five  factories  in  India.  These  possessions, 
limited  as  they  were  in  1783,  none  the  less  paved  the  way  for 
fresh  conquests,  and  later  it  was  seen  that  they  were  valuable 
open  doors  to  new  enterprises. 

Princital  SouncES.  Corrcspnndance  secrete  du  Comte  de  Mercy- 
Argenteau  avec  Vcmpercur  Joseph  J I  et  Ic  prince  de  Kauniiz,  published  by 
M.  le  Chevalier  Alfred  d'Arneth  and  M.  Jules  Flamiiiermont,  2  vols., 
Paris,  1889  ;    Emile   Bourgeois,  Manuel  Ilistorique  de  politique  etrangire, 

1  vol.,  Paris,  1897  ;    Francois  Rousseau,  R^gnc  dc  Charles  111  d'Espagnc, 

2  vols.,  Paris,  1007. 

268 


CHAPTER  XXI 

THE  QUEEN'S  FIRST  CALVARY 

1785 

The  Manage  de  Figaro.  Mirabeau's  book.  Remarkable  inven- 
tions. The  Controllers  of  Finance.  Calonne.  Coldness  of  the 
Parisians  towards  Marie -Antoinette.  Cagliostro  and  the  Cardinal 
de  Rohan.  Intervention  of  Jeanne  de  Valois,  Comtesse  de  la 
Motte.  Oliva.  Boehmer.  The  incident  in  the  grove.  The 
necklace.  Arrest  of  the  Cardinal.  Rohan  acquitted.  The 
opening  of  the  Scheldt.     Vergennes'  victory. 

AFTER  the  American  war  there  was  a  short  period  of 
calm  marked  by  numerous  manifestations  of  social 
activity.  The  peace  seemed  to  give  a  new  life  to 
France.  It  was  at  this  time  that  Beaumarchais  succeeded  in 
"  Mariage  de  getting  his  Manage  de  Figaro  produced.  The 
Figaro."  Court  and  the  town  were  amused  and  attracted 

by  his  wit,  without  suspecting  the  profound  lesson  concealed 
in  the  history  of  the  Comtesse  Alma  viva  and  the  lively  Suzanne. 
They  did  not  realize  that  the  boastful  barber  is  the  mouthpiece 
of  the  small  and  weak,  and  that  his  words  are  formulae  which  a 
few  years  later  were  to  become  proverbial  and  serve  the  cause 
of  the  malcontents — ^those  malcontents  who  were  ready  to  rise 
from  their  place  behind  the  scenes  where  they  were  fostering 
the  revolt  against  the  aristocracy  of  birth. 

The  success  of  the  piece  was  extraordinary.  Applause 
marked  each  hit  and  sally.  Noblemen  laughed  at  their  own 
expense,  and  made  others  in  the  audience  laugh  with  them. 
Beaumarchais  showed  the  nobility  a  caricature  of  themselves 
and  they  replied  :  "  Yes,  indeed,  it's  very  like  us."  Strange 
unconsciousness  !  The  significance  of  the  work  became  evident 
as  time  went  on,  but  it  practically  escaped  its  first  audience. 
Beaumarchais  had  no  idea  of  causing  a  revolution,  he  amused 
himself  as  much  as  his  hearers.     However,  the  King  had  fore- 

269 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

seen  the  danger  and  said  :  "  It  is  detestable,  it  must  never  be 
performed  ;  the  Bastille  will  have  to  be  destroyed  if  wc  are 
to  save  ourselves  from  inconsistency  in  allowing  this  play 
to  be  acted.  .  .  .  This  man  makes  a  jest  of  everything  which 
should  be  respected  in  a  government."  But  Louis  had  to 
yield  to  the  Polignac  group.  To  obtain  their  end,  these  latter 
had  said  with  Figaro  :  "  It  is  only  little  minds  that  fear  little 
wTitings."  After  delay  the  piece  was  performed  at  the  Com^die 
Fran9aise  sixty-eight  times  in  succession,  a  rare  event  in  the 
eighteenth  century. 

Thus  it  became  more  and  more  general  for  people  to  say 
what  they  thought.  President  de  Bachaumont's  chroniclers 
record  an  interesting  conversation  between  Louis  and  Richelieu. 
The  Marshal  had  just  been  ill  and  the  King  congratulated  him 
on  regaining  his  health  : 

"  For  you  are  not  young,  you  have  seen  three  centuries." 

"  Not  quite.  Sire,  but  three  reigns." 

"  Yes.     And  what  do  you  think  of  it  all  ?  " 

"  Sire,  under  Louis  XIV  no  one  dared  to  say  anything  ; 
under  Louis  XV  they  spoke  in  whispers ;  under  your  Majesty 
they  speak  out  loud." 

His  toleration  was  one  of  his  good  characteristics.  It  was 
not  in  vain  that  Mirabeau  jmblished  his  Leilres  de  Cachet,  an 
Mirabeau's  eloquent  attack  on  the  system  of  arbitrary  im- 
"Lettresde  prisonment  without  trial.  The  prison  of  Vin- 
Cachet."  cennes  was  evacuated,  and  all  Paris  went  to  sec 

in  this  fortress  the  relics  "  of  ancient  barbarism."  A  few  years 
before  the  executioner  would  have  publicly  burned  a  book  in 
which  the  author  dared  to  show  that  despotism  in  a  State  does 
not  depend  on  the  individual  character  of  the  sovereign,  but  on 
the  insufficiency  of  the  laws,  "  that  there  is  no  mean  between 
the  absolute  reign  of  despotism  and  the  absolute  reign  of  law." 

Minds,  said  Segur,  arc,  as  it  were,  ''  drunk  with  i)hilan- 
thropy."  The  institutions  of  the  Abbe  de  TEpdc  and  Valentine 
Haiiy  were  patronized  ;  the  severe  winter  of  1784  aroused 
charitable  feelings  in  every  one  ;  the  King  gave  3,000,000  livrea 
for  the  relic  f  of  t lie  distressed  ;  the  Queen  caused  200,000  Uvrcs 
to  be  distributed.  Their  example  was  generally  followed. 
Public  rewards,  gold  medals,  and  sums  of  money  were  instituted 
270 


THE    QUEEN'S    FIRST    CALVARY 

to  encourage  work.  "  Prizes  are  given  for  all  virtues,"  we  read 
in  the  records  of  Bachaumont. 

Remarkable  inventions  were  recorded.  Did  not  they  think 
in  1784  that  they  had  conquered  the  air  by  means  of  balloons  ? 
Remarkable  Blanchard  crossed  the  Channel  in  a  balloon  and 
Inventions.  enabled  the  French  flag  to  wave  over  England. 
This  was  enough  to  make  people  talk  of  flying  to  America. 
Attempts  were  also  made  to  walk  on  the  water  ;  the  word  "  im- 
possible "  was  not  allowed.  Speaking  animals,  flying  birds,  and 
feeding  ducks  were  constructed.  Finally,  Mcsmcr  bewildered 
every  one  with  his  marvellous  tubs,  and  it  was  generally  believed 
that  the  times  of  Paris,  the  deacon,  were  come  again,  and  that 
magnetism  was  a  miracle  which  would  cure  all  ills.  "  Truly," 
writes  Segur,  "  when  I  think  of  that  period  of  illusive  visions 
and  learned  madness,  I  compare  the  state  we  were  in  to  a  person 
on  the  top  of  a  tower  who  is  made  giddy  by  the  sight  of  an 
immense  horizon  and  in  a  few  minutes  will  have  a  terrible  fall." 

In  the  meantime  daring  increased  with  freedom ;  if  those 
in  power  made  a  mistake,  they  were  recalled  to  their  senses  by 
Controllers  of  unusually  forcible  reminders.  This  time  the  blow 
Finance.  fell  on  Calonne,  the  most  baneful  Minister  of  the 

reign,  and  through  him  on  the  Queen.  After  the  conclusion  of 
Peace  the  office  of  Controller  of  Finance  had  become  of  the  first 
importance.  Joly  de  Fleury  failed  to  retain  the  post ;  Ormesson, 
who  succeeded  him,  was  a  young  Counsellor  of  State  without 
any  great  ability.  He  only  remained  in  office  for  seven  months, 
from  April  1  to  November  2, 1783.  He  was  the  seventh  financial 
administrator  since  1774.  The  Minister  on  whom  at  that 
moment  the  stability  of  the  Government  depended  should 
have  been  chosen  with  the  greatest  care,  but  the  King  allowed 
himself  to  be  seduced  by  the  intrigues  of  Madame  de  Polignac. 
The  Queen  who,  according  to  Augeard,  was  "  very  recalcitrant,'^ 
was  won  over  first.  Marie- Antoinette  since  the  fall  of  Joly  de 
Fleury  had  desired  the  recall  of  Necker,  but  she  allowed  herself 
to  be  persuaded  by  Madame  de  Polignac  and  Baron  de  Breteuil, 
Minister  of  the  King's  Household,  who  "  after  much  argument, 
persuaded  their  Majesties  to  make  an  appointment  which 
was  one  day  to  result  in  the  total  destruction  of  their  kingdom, 
and  their  own  end  on  the  scaffold."     These  are  the  exact  words 

271 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

of  Augcard,  one  of  the  Queen's  two  private  secretaries, 
spoken  in  all  sincerity  ;  he  gave  his  sovereigns  many  jiroofs 
of  devotion  at  the  beginning  of  the  Rcvohition.  The  history 
of  Calonne's  ministry  shows  how  right  tliis  faithful  servant  was, 
although  his  expression  was  perhaps  exaggerated. 

Calonne  was  as  unscrupulous  as  he  was  attractive.     In  his 

first  interview  w4th  Louis,  he  played  the  saint ;    he  confessed 

that  his  debts  amounted  to  220,000  livres,  that 

f  AlflTlTlP 

a  Controller-General  could  always  find  means  of 
paying  them  off,  but  that  he  preferred  to  owe  everything  to 
the  King's  kindness.  Louis  took  out  the  sum  from  a  desk  and 
gave  it  to  Calonne.  The  new  Minister  had  been  Intendant  of 
Flanders  and  Artois,  and  had  distinguished  himself  there  by  his 
love  of  display.  "  No  one,"  writes  the  Due  de  Levis,  "  under- 
stood better  than  he  how  a  room  should  be  decorated,  or  how  a 
fete  should  be  organized."  He  was  very  skilful  in  deceiving  the 
public  ;  his  speech  to  the  magistrates  of  the  Chamber  of  Ac- 
counts before  whom  custom  obliged  him  to  take  his  oath,  was 
considered  "  a  model  of  well-chosen  and  manly  eloquence," 
breathing  "  patriotism  "  and  revealing  "  the  statesman."  Like 
Necker,  he  had  recourse  to  loans  in  the  form  of  lotteries  ;  he 
borrowed  100,000,000  livres  to  begin  and  he  could  have  obtained 
a  still  larger  sum,  since  every  one  was  ready  to  subscribe.  He 
used  part  of  this  money  to  begin  some  important  constructive 
works  in  Paris  and  the  large  towns.  He  established  a  sinking- 
fund,  by  means  of  which,  in  twenty-five  years,  the  debt  was  to 
be  paid  off.  This  last  was  only  a  snare,  for  the  scheme  was 
never  put  into  operation.  But  boundless  confidence  was  felt 
in  a  man  who  developed  his  plans  with  such  conviction  and  who 
seemed  to  have  reorganized  the  whole  financial  system.  Louis 
called  his  minister  "  his  dear  Controller-General,"  and  when  it 
was  known  what  use  Calonne  made  of  the  State's  money,  people 
were  not  wanting  who  said  that  the  Controller-General  was  in- 
deed dear  to  France.  For  three  years  he  cleverly  concealed 
liis  methods,  and  his  credit  seemed  inexhaustible  ;  he  gave  and 
gave  unceasingly,  and  assumed  the  role  of  public  benefactor 
without  any  scruple.  Maurepas  had  once  said  of  Calonne, 
who  had  long  coveted  the  post  of  C'ontroher  :  "Why!  he  is 
a  fool,  a  spendthrift.  If  you  put  the  finances  into  his  hands 
272 


THE    QUEEN'S    FIRST    CALVARY 

the  Royal  Treasury  would  soon  be  as  empty  as  his  purse." 
This  prophecy  was  fulfilled.  In  1785  the  loans  amounted 
to  487,000,000  livres,  the  debt  was  101,000,000,  and  the  deficit 
100,000,000  livres,  but  the  secret  had  been  well  kept.  Every  one 
took  advantage  of  this  mad  prodigality ;  no  Minister  had  ever 
so  completely  satisfied  the  increasing  rapacity  of  the  "  privi- 
leged." One  noble  said :  "  When  I  saw  every  one  holding  out 
their  hands,  I  held  out  my  hat."  At  this  time  Rambouillet  was 
bought  for  the  King  and  Saint-Cloud  for  the  Queen.  The  Prince 
de  Guemenee  sold  Lorient  to  the  Crown  for  11,000,000  livres. 
The  debts  of  Monsieur  and  the  Comte  d'Artois  were  paid,  but 
Calonne's  personal  expenses  surpassed  all.  The  public  funds 
were  squandered  in  the  most  extravagant  fashion.  The  Con- 
troller's answer  to  a  request  for  money  was  :  "  If  it  is  possible 
it  is  done.  It  if  is  not  possible  it  will  be  done."  The  Pactolus 
flowed  on  and  no  one  enquired  how.  Calonne's  principles  were  : 
"  A  man  who  wants  to  borrow  must  appear  to  be  rich  ;  but  to 
appear  rich,  he  must  dazzle  people  with  his  expenditure."  This 
sophism  had  succeeded  in  his  private  life  and  now  the  new  Con- 
troller applied  it  to  his  public  career. 

Pamphlets  fell  thick  upon  Calonne,  but  nothing  was  more 
influential  than  Necker's  book  on  the  Administration  des 
Finances.  It  was  a  new  Compte  rendu,  in  which  definite  figures 
proved  the  existing  financial  disorders.  Twelve  thousand  copies 
of  this  book  were  sold  in  one  month.  Calonne  defended  himself 
and  showed  a  bold  front ;  it  took  more  to  shake  his  courage. 

He  appealed  to  the  clergy,  who  made  him  a  "  freewill 
offering  "  of  18,000,000  livres  in  return  for  the  suppression  of  the 
Calonne's  edition  of  Voltaire's  Works  published  under  the 

dubious  auspices  of  Beaumarchais.      The  repeated  loans 

Devices.  tired  the  speculators ;  Calonne  resorted  to  the  expe- 

dient of  reminting  the  gold  coins,  a  disguised  fraud  which  brought 
in  more  than  50,000,000  livres.  Murmurs  grew  louder  and  were 
addressed  particularly  to  the  Queen,  who  was  held  responsible 
for  the  Controller's  prodigality.  Marie- Antoinette  realized  this 
to  the  full  in  May  1785,  when  she  went  in  great  pomp  to  Notre 
Dame  de  Paris  to  thank  God  for  the  birth  of  the  Due  de 
Normandie,*  which  took  place  on  March  27,  1785.  She  was 
*  The  future  martyr  of  the  Temple,  the  so-called  Louis  XVII. 

S  273 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

received  in  icy  silence  and  said  tearfully  :  "  What  have  I  done  to 
them  ?  "  Times  had  changed  and  the  minds  of  men  seemed  in 
revolt.  Owing  to  skilful  calumnies  and  odious  insinuations  the 
Unpopularity  popular  hatred  had  been  turned  against  a  woman 
of  the  Queen,  full  of  youth  and  innocence,  whose  fault  had  been 
to  inspire  those  around  her,  her  brothers-in-law  and  aunts,  with 
a  fierce  jealousy,  which  found  expression  in  libels  not  only  in 
Versailles,  but  among  the  people.  Gradually  the  j)in-prick 
became  a  bludgeon-blow,  destined  to  culminate  in  the  knife  of 
the  guillotine. 

Marie-Antoinette  was  to  undergo  her  first  Calvary  this 
year. 

For  some  time  past  the  occult  sciences  had  attracted  great 
attention.  Both  Mesmer  and  Cagliostro  found  eager  dupes  ;  the 
latter  pretended  to  cure  all  maladies.  "  As  he  did  not  take 
money,"  said  the  Baronne  d'Oberkieh,  "  and  on  the  contrary, 
gave  much  away  to  the  poor,  he  always  attracted  a  large  crowd, 
notwithstanding  the  failure  of  his  panacea.  He  only  cured 
those  who  were  well,  or  at  least  those  whose  imagination  was 
strong  enough  to  assist  the  remedy."  Cagliostro  unveiled  the 
past  and  revealed  the  future.  Among  his  celebrated  clients 
was  the  Cardinal  de  Rohan,  who  was  entirely  captivated  and 
proclaimed  everywhere  the  "  miracles "  of  the  magician. 
Showing  a  great  solitaire  on  which  were  engraved  the  arms 
of  the  House  of  Rohan,  he  said  :  "  He  (Caghostro)  did  it,  do 
you  understand  ?  He  made  it  out  of  nothing.  I  saw  it  ;  I  was 
there  with  my  eyes  fixed  on  the  crucible  ;  I  watched  the  whole 
operation.  .  .  .  That  was  not  all ;  he  made  gold.  There  in 
the  roof  of  the  palace  he  made  about  5000  or  GOOO  livres''  worth 
})cforc  me.  He  will  make  me  the  rielicst  prince  in  Europe. 
Cagliostro  and  These  are  not  dreams,  Madame  :  they  are  proofs. 
De  Rohan.  His  prophecies  arc  realized,  and  the  cures  he  has 
ffTectcd  are  wonderful  !  I  tell  you  he  is  the  most  extraordinary 
and  the  most  sublime  man,  and  his  wisdom  is  only  equalled  by 
his  goodness.  What  alms  he  gives  !  What  good  he  does  !  It 
passes  all  imagination." 

His  clcver^intcrlocutrix,  the  Baronne  d'Oberkieh,  answered  : 
"Ah  I  Monseigneur,  this  man  must  expect  to  secure  Kome  very 
274 


THE    QUEEN'S    FIRST    CALVARY 

dangerous  sacrifices  from  you  if  he  has  bought  such  boundless 
confidence.  In  your  place,  I  should  take  care  :  he  will  lead 
you  far.  .  .  ." 

But  Cagliostro  alone  could  not  have  played  enough  upon 
de  Rohan's  credulity,  or  led  his  Eminence  sufficiently  far. 
The  magician  was  introduced  by  his  admirer  to  Jearme 
de  Valois,  Comtesse  de  la  Motte,  a  clever  adventuress,  well 
able  to  turn  the  situation  to  account.  She  made  use  of 
Cagliostro' s  ascendency  over  the  Cardinal  and  saw  where  to 
strike. 

The  Cardinal  de  Rohan,  before  becoming  Grand  Almoner  of 
France,  had  been  ambassador  at  Vienna  when  Marie- Antoinette 
was  the  Dauphine.  His  mad  expenditure,  his  inexperience, 
his  tactlessness,  his  foolishness,  and  even  his  conduct,  which 
scarcely  conformed  to  his  ecclesiastical  status,  had  greatly 
displeased  Maria  Theresa,  who  with  some  difficulty  managed 
to  get  rid  of  this  strange  representative  of  the  Court  of  Versailles. 
Marie-Antoinette  shared  her  mother's  antipathy,  and  in  spite 
of  numerous  attempts,  the  Cardinal  never  gained  access  to  her. 
Rohan  was  chagrined  at  this  and  his  friends  knew  how  ardently 
he  desired  to  regain  her  favour.  The  Comtesse  de  la  Motte  knew 
this  better  than  anyone,  and  saying  that  she  was  an  intimate 
friend  of  Marie- Antoinette,  she  offered  to  obtain  an  interview 
for  him  which  should  bring  about  a  reconciliation.  The  adven- 
turess had  infinite  resources,  she  took  in  hand  the  threads  of  the 
intrigue  and  surrounded  herself  with  the  necessary  confederates  ; 
she  was  a  wonderful  stage  manager. 

She  wanted  some  one  who  resembled  Marie- Antoinette  and 
she  found  her.  This  was  Marie-Nicole  Leguay,  the  so-called 
Baronne  d'Oliva.  The  Comtesse  was  aware  that  Boehmer, 
the  jeweller,  had  put  all  his  capital  into  a  single  piece  of  jewellery 
worth  1,600,000  livres ;  it  was  a  necklace  of  incomparable 
diamonds  which  could  only  be  bought  by  a  princess.  She  knew 
also,  like  every  one  else,  that  Marie-Antoinette  could  not  resist 
the  attraction  of  jewellery,  and  that  her  jewel  cases  were  never 
numerous  enough  for  her. 

Such  were  the  seemingly  incongruous  elements  with  which 
Madame  de  la  Motte,  relying  on  the  credulity  of  Rohan  and 
the  prestige  of  Cagliostro,  formed  the  sca:ffolding  of  a  romance 

275 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

never  equalled  by  Anne  RadclilTe,  Walter  Scott,  or  Alexandre 
Dumas. 

Slie  it  was  who  conceived  the  scene  in  the  grove.  One 
eveniniT  tlie  Cardinal  was  conducted  to  the  Park  of  Versailles  ; 
The  Affair  of  suddenly  in  the  twilight  a  woman  appeared,  who 
the  Necklace,  had  the  form  and  bearing  of  the  Queen.  It  was 
d'Oliva,  the  "  street-walker  "  whom  the  Comtc  dc  la  IVIotte  had 
met  in  the  gardens  of  the  Palais  Royal.  Oliva  murmured  some 
unintelligible  words  and  let  fall  a  rose  as  she  passed.  Rohan 
thought  he  heard  :  "  You  may  hope  that  thcjiast  zvill  be  forgotten !  " 
He  was  convinced  that  the  Queen  had  pardoned  him.  Then 
Madame  de  la  Motte  told  him  that  Marie-Antoinette  wanted  to 
buy  Boehmcr's  necklace  and  that  she  had  chosen  him  to  nego- 
tiate the  ailair  secretly.  The  Comtesse  next  forged  instructions 
for  the  purchase,  using  the  Queen's  name.  No  one  can  think  of 
everything,  and  she  signed  the  orders  "  Marie-Antoinette  de 
France,''''  though  the  Queen  never  signed  documents  or  letters  in 
that  way.  A  more  intelligent  man  would  have  seen  through  the 
trick,  but  Rohan  was  an  easy  prey.  Advised  by  Cagliostro, 
he  bought  the  necklace  on  credit,  and  gave  it  to  an  accomplice, 
whom  he  thought  to  be  a  domestic  of  the  Palace,  on  February  1, 
1785.  The  Comtesse  kept  the  necklace,  sold  the  separate 
stones,  and  squandered  the  proceeds,  amounting  to  hundreds 
of  thousands  of  livres.  The  jeweller,  who  was  paid  nothing, 
sent  in  a  claim  to  the  Queen.  Marie-Antoinette  was  convinced 
that  Rohan  had  made  use  of  her  name  to  obtain  the  necklace 
by  fraud,  and  induced  the  King  to  order  the  Cardinal's  arrest 
on  August  15,  1785. 

The  Queen  was  natiu-ally  annoyed,  and  in  her  desire  for 
revenge  she  did  not  stop  to  reason.  She  tliought  the  Cardinal 
Arrest  of  ^^'^^  to  blame  and  must  be  punished.     Iler  letters 

Cardinal  to  her  brother  Joseph  show  how  unguarded  was 

de  Rohan.  i^gr  anger  :   "  All  had  been  agreed  to  between  the 

King  and  myself.  The  iMinisters  knew  notliing,  the  King  had 
the  Cardinal  summoned  and  questioned  him  in  the  presence  of 
the  Keeper  of  the  Seals  (Miromcsnil)  and  the  Baron  de  Bretcuil. 
I  hope  that  this  alTair  will  soon  be  ended.  But  I  do  not  know  if 
it  will  be  sent  to  the  Parliament,  or  if  the  culj)rit  and  his  family 
will  trust  themselves  to  the  King's  clemency."  This  was 
27G 


THE    QUEEN'S    FIRST    CALVARY 

written  on  August  22,  1785.  Then  on  September  19,  1785,  she 
wrote  :  "  The  Cardinal  used  my  name  hke  a  vile  and  maladroit 
coiner.  It  is  possible  that  pressed  by  want  of  money,  he  thought 
he  could  pay  the  jewellers  by  the  date  he  had  agreed  on,  without 
anything  being  discovered."  x\nd  on  December  27,  1785 : 
"  The  charlatan  Cagliostro,  La  Mottc,  his  wife,  and  a  certain 
Oliva,  a  street-walker,  are  accused  with  him  (Rohan).  He 
must  be  confronted  by  them  and  answer  their  reproaches. 
What  associates  for  a  Grand- Almoner  and  a  Rohan  Cardinal !  " 

There  was  a  solemn  festival  at  Versailles  on  August  15,  the 
day  of  the  Assumption,  when  France  commemorated  the  vow 
of  Louis  XIII  and  the  Queen's  fete.  The  Cardinal  de  Rohan 
was  there,  ready  to  say  Mass,  in  a  cassock  of  watered  scarlet 
silk  and  a  rochet  of  English  point  lace,  when  he  was  brought 
before  the  King. 

"  Cousin,"  said  Louis,  "  what  about  this  purchase  of  a 
diamond  necklace  that  you  are  said  to  have  made  for  the 
Queen  ?  " 

"  Sire,  I  sqe  I  have  been  deceived,  but  I  have  not  deceived." 

The  prelate  was  given  time  to  write  his  defence,  but  it  was 
impossible  to  unwind  the  tangled  skein  of  this  intrigue  in  a 
few  lines.  Rohan's  statement  satisfied  no  one,  and  the  proud 
and  angry  Queen  least  of  all. 

There  was  a  crowd  in  the  apartments  from  the  (Eil-de-boeuf 
to  the  Cabinet  of  the  Clock — an  anxious  crowd  which  did  not 
understand  why  Mass  was  not  being  said.  The  door  of  the 
inner  room  where  this  tragic  scene  was  being  enacted  then 
opened  ;  Rohan,  very  pale,  advanced,  followed  by  Breteuil, 
who  cried  to  the  Due  de  Villeroi,  Captain  of  the  bodyguard  : 
"Arrest  Monsieur  le  Cardinal." 

The  next  day  the  Grand- Almoner  was  in  the  Bastille.  This 
hasty  decision  was  an  irreparable  mistake,  but  it  was  impossible 
Acquittal  oi  to  check  the  nervous  tenacity  of  the  Queen,  en- 
De  Rohan.  couraged  by  the  hatred  that  Breteuil  bore  towards 
Rohan.  One  man,  Vergennes,  might  have  saved  the  situation, 
but  he  was  not  at  the  Council  when  the  question  was  decided. 
The  Queen  was  the  first  victim  of  this  impulsive  action.  The 
trial  took  place  before  the  Parliament,  the  Cardinal  was  ac- 
quitted, and  it  was  judged  that  he  had  been  the  dupe  of  the 

277 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

Comtessc  de  la  Motto,  who  alone  was  condemned  on  May  31, 
1786.  The  Rohans  triumphed  and  declared  themselves 
avenged  for  the  failure  of  the  Prince  dc  Gu6m6n6e,  but  they 
complained  loudly  when  they  heard  that  the  Cardinal  was 
exiled  to  his  Abbey  at  La  Chaise-Dieu,  and  that  he  had  been 
forced  to  resign  the  office  of  Grand  Almoner.  The  public 
joined  them  in  their  indignation  at  this  treatment  of  a  man 
whom  justice  had  acquitted.  The  Rohans,  to  whom  were  allied 
the  Soubiscs,  Marsans,  Brionnes,  and  the  Prince  de  Cond6, 
who  had  married  a  Rohan,  in  their  turn  put  Marie-Antoinette 
on  trial.  The  poor  Queen,  who  was  already  unpopular,  heard  all 
round  her  murmurs  of  blind  hatred.  The  mass  of  the  people 
thought  her  guilty,  seeing  that  the  Cardinal  was  innocent,  and 
thus  the  reprisals  of  '93  began.  When  Madame  de  la  Motto 
underwent  the  degrading  punishment  of  being  branded  in  the 
Cour  du  Mai  before  the  Palais  de  Justice,  public  sympathy  was 
on  her  side  and  against  the  Queen.  The  Crown  of  France  had 
already  begun  to  roll  in  the  revolutionary  gutter.  As  Goethe 
says,  Marie-Antoinette  then  lost  in  the  minds  of  the  people 
that  moral  support  which  made  her  person  inviolable. 

In  1777  Maria  Theresa  wrote  to  Mercy  :  "  I  confess  that 
my  fears  are  redoubled  at  the  thought  of  how  much  harm 
The  Queen  a  man  of  this  kind  (Rohan)  would  be  capable 
discredited.  of  doing  if  ever  he  secured  an  established  position 
at  Court."  And  the  Empress  had  said  to  Marie- Antoinette  : 
"  The  post  that  Rohan  is  to  occupy  alarms  me.  He  is  a  bad 
man  to  have  as  an  enemy,  both  on  your  account  and  on 
account  of  his  principles,  which  are  quite  perverted.  Under 
an  affable,  easy,  and  prepossessing  exterior,  he  has  done 
much  harm  here.  Yet  I  am  to  see  him  at  the  King's  side 
and  at  yours  !  He  will  scarcely  do  lionour  to  his  ollice  as 
Bishop."  We  are  forcibly  reminded  of  these  predictions  by 
the  story  of  the  necklace.  Maria  Theresa  was  clear-sighteJ, 
but  she  could  hardly  have  imagined  all  the  harm  to  be  wrought 
by  Rohan's  stupid  credulity  and  her  daughter's  regrettable 
blindness.  The  Queen  wept  and  watched  the  approach  of  dark 
days  ;  joy  and  n  pose  for  he  r  were  things  of  tlie  past.  Meanwhile 
complications  started  by  her  brother,  the  Emperor,  nearly 
I)rovoked  another  Continental  war.  Urged  by  Josej)h  and  his 
278 


THE    QUEEN'S    FIRST    CALVARY 

Minister,  Chancellor  von  Kaunitz,  Marie- Antoinette  championed 
the  Austrian  cause,  personally  conducted  her  case  with  the 
King  and  his  Ministers,  dictated  dispatches,  kept  back  couriers, 
informed  her  brother  of  all  resolutions  and  thus  allowed  him  to 
act  with  a  strong  hand.  Too  faithful  to  her  mother's  principles, 
she  forgot,  or  rather  did  not  understand,  that  the  alliance  of  the 
Bourbons  with  her  family  was  not  the  beginning  and  end  of 
French  policy. 

In  1784  Joseph,  in  spite  of  his  treaties  with  Holland,  de- 
manded the  opening  of  the  Scheldt  and  the  possession  of 
The  Opening  of  Maestricht.  The  Emperor  was  rather  energetic 
the  Scheldt.  than  clever,  and  he  had  a  mania  for  territorial 
aggrandizement.  Poland  had  so  easily  become  part  of  the 
Hapsburg  patrimony  that  everything  seemed  permissible,  and 
now  Flemish  succeeded  to  Bavarian  dreams.  To  the  first  over- 
tures of  her  brother  Marie- Antoinette  replied  by  a  "  confession  " 
which  she  said  was  "  not  very  flattering  to  her  self-esteem." 
"  I  do  not  deceive  myself,"  wrote  Marie-Antoinette  on  Sep- 
tember 22,  1784,  "  as  to  my  power,  especially  in  politics.  I 
have  not  a  great  ascendency  over  the  King's  mind.  Would  it 
be  prudent  for  me  to  have  quarrels  with  his  Ministers  on  subjects 
on  which  I  am  nearly  certain  the  King  would  not  support  me  ? 
Without  ostentation  or  falsehood,  I  allow  the  public  to  believe 
that  I  have  more  influence  than  I  really  have,  because  if  I  were 
not  believed  to  have  some,  I  should  have  less  still."  This  essen- 
tially feminine  way  of  thinking  shows  considerable  insight. 
Joseph  in  his  reply  thought  it  useless  to  lecture  one  who  showed 
such  candour  and  dexterity.  "  You  should  avoid  scenes  with 
any  of  the  King's  Ministers,"  was  all  he  said.  "  To  tell  a  pretty 
woman  who  combines  tact  with  wit  and  ability  as  you  do,  how 
she  ought  to  act  when  she  knows  all  the  people  concerned  and 
is  anxious  to  succeed  in  her  purpose,  would  be  waste  of  time, 
and  might  make  you  laugh.  Consistency,  perseverance,  grasp  of 
detail,  patience,  complaisance,  and  a  little  constraint  are  the 
sex's  true  weapons  and  its  most  powerful  and  infallible  method 
of  influencing  our  wills.  But  these  means  must  be  prepared 
beforehand,  for  one  does  not  always  win  the  game  just  at  one's 
own  time."  This  is  a  great  change  from  the  Joseph  who  repri- 
manded his  sister  so  brutally  that  Maria  Theresa  intercepted 

279 


THE    EICxIITEENTH    CENTURY 

his  letter,  hut  Avlien  the  Emperor  had  need  of  the  Queen  of 
Franee  he  knew  how  to  flatter  her  successfully.  In  his  heart  he 
did  not  believe  that  Marie- Antoinette  was  capable  of  helping 
him,  as  his  correspondence  with  Mercy  j)roves.  His  judgment 
of  her  in  his  confidential  letters  to  the  ambassador  is  always 
severe. 

Jose})h  wished  to  secure  the  King's  support.  The  opening 
of  the  Scheldt  w  as  only  to  be  the  prelude  to  the  cession  of  Dutch 
Flanders  to  Austria  in  exchange  for  a  "  rectification  of  frontiers 
advantageous  to  the  Republic."  It  was  also  possibly  a  step 
towards  the  annexation  of  Bavaria,  if  Holland  would  agree  to 
this.  It  was  all  to  the  interest  of  Franee  to  favour  these  negotia- 
tions, since  they  would  give  her  two  safe  ports,  instead  of  one, 
in  the  Austrian  Netherlands.  She  was  reminded  of  the  con- 
siderable services  which  the  port  of  Ostend  had  rendered  her 
commerce  in  the  last  war.  This  was  the  theme  of  Mercy's 
Successful  propositions  to  Vergennes.     The  F'rench  minister 

Diplomacy  of  replied  that  he  would  refer  the  question  to  the 
Vergennes.  Dutch  ambassadors,  that  he  desired  to  be  on 
good  terms  with  the  Republic,  and  it  was  not  his  business  to 
dictate  laws  to  them.  The  negotiations  were  interminable. 
Vergennes  was  firm  ;  he  kept  the  King  equally  so,  and  pursued 
the  wise  policy  which  had  enabled  him  to  re-establish  France, 
at  least  in  her  external  relations.  Marie-Antoinette's  influence 
remained  negative,  in  spite  of  her  unceasing  elTorts  to  pilot  her 
brother's  ship  as  she  wished,  and  to  secure  the  dismissal  of 
Vergennes.  The  King  would  not  sacrifice  him  to  his  conjugal 
afTection.  Victory  remained  with  the  minister ;  he  again 
calmed  the  Emperor's  exuberance,  and  on  November  8,  1785, 
he  prepared  the  Treaty  of  Fontaincbleau  between  Joseph  and 
the  Batavian  Republic,  tlius  enabling  France  to  intervene  in 
the  honourable  role  of  mediator.  The  Emperor  demanded 
payment  of  10,000,000  Uvrc.s  from  the  States-General  of  Holland, 
because  his  standard  had  been  insulted,  but  the  Dutch  ob- 
stinately refused  to  give  more  than  half.  Vergennes  agreed  to 
5,000,000  livrrs\  and  signed  a  i)rivatc  treaty  with  the  United 
Provinces,  which  were  thus  relieved  of  the  English  influence  and 
gave  France  great  advantages  in  return.  It  was  a  small  price 
to  pay  i'i)V  the  {)eace  of  Euroj[)e,  for  these  few  millions  saved  the 
280 


THE    QUEEN'S    FIRST    C  A  L  V  A  R|Y 

expenses  ol"  a  war.  But  the  public  did  not  understand  Vergennes' 
political  skill.  It  was  everywhere  proclaimed  that  French 
money  was  being  expended  ibr  the  benefit  of  the  Queen's 
brother  !  The  idea  still  haunted  the  Republicans,  who,  on 
the  audit  of  the  accounts  by  the  Constituent  Assembly,  were 
astonished  to  find  no  trace  of  the  fabulous  sums  believed  to  have 
been  squandered  for  the  Austrian  cause.  These  same  men  when 
they  entered  the  Trianon,  expected  to  find  there  the  room 
studded  with  diamonds  and  the  twisted  columns  ornamented 
with  sapphires  and  rubies,  invented  by  malignant  imagination. 
Vergennes  made  one  mistake  in  allowing  himself  to  be 
deceived  by  Calonne  and  in  believing  with  Louis  XVI  that  the 
Controller-General  would  find  a  solution  for  the  financial  diffi- 
culties. Their  blindness  had  lasted  too  long,  but  the  veil  was 
at  length  to  be  torn  aside. 

Principax  Sources.  Grimm's  Correspondance  ;  Mdmoires  of  Bachau- 
mont,  Segur,  Augeard,  La  Fayette,  Bailly  and  Governeur  Morris  ;  Cor- 
respondance  secrete  du  Comte  de  Mercy-Argenteau  avec  VEmpdreur  Joseph 
II  et  le  Prince  de  Kaunitz,  2  vols,,  Paris,  1899  ;  Funck  Brentano,  L' Affaire 
du  Collier,  Paris,  1901  ;  Lacour-Gayet,  Voyage  de  Louis  XVI  a  Cherbourg, 
Paris,  1906. 


281 


CHAPTER  XXII 

THE  DAWN  OF  THE  REVOLUTION 

1786-1789 

The  King's  journey  to  Cherbourg.  Convocation  of  the  Assembly 
of  Notables.  Public  sarcasms.  Calonne's  speech.  He  creates 
an  opposition  in  the  Assembly.  Lomenic  de  Brienne  in  power. 
His  portrait.  The  new  Minister's  concessions.  Dismissal  of  the 
Notables.  Attitude  of  the  Parliament.  The  Queen's  conversation 
with  Besenval.  Exile  of  the  Parlemcntaires.  Joseph's  letter  to 
his  sister.  The  Due  d'Orl^ans  in  opposition  to  the  Court. 
Brienne's  rapacity.  The  decree  of  May  3.  Espremenil.  Agita- 
tion in  Paris.  The  King  decides  to  convene  the  States-General. 
Fall  of  Brienne.     Return  of  Necker. 

A  FEW  days  after  the  termination  of  the  necklace  incident, 
Louis,  perliaps  calhng  to  mind  the  advice  of  Joseph  II, 
undertook  a  journey.  He  went  to  Cherbourg  from 
June  20  to  29,  1786,  his  object  being  to  view  the  works  then 
The  King's  carried  on  in  the  harbour  and  the  roadstead, 
Visit  to  which  had  been  commenced  after  the  signing  of 

Cherbourg.  tj^^  peace  in  1783.  Royal  journeys,  beyond  the 
annual  visits  to  Compi6gne  and  Fontainebleau,  were  rare.  It 
was  remembered  that  Louis  XIV  had  only  spent  one  day  at 
Dunkirk,  and  Louis  XV  only  three  at  Havre.  The  navy  had 
been  one  of  Louis  XVI's  chief  concerns,  and  people  were  pleased 
to  see  the  monarch  interested  in  so  glorious  a  work.  "  Two 
things  were  particularly  noticeable,"  we  read  in  Bachaumont, 
"  one,  that  the  King  is  perfectly  well  informed  in  all  which 
concerns  the  navy,  and  shows  himself  ignorant  neither  of  the 
construction,  the  equipment,  nor  the  handling  of  ships  .  .  .  the 
other,  that  the  King  questioned  each  oflicer  who  was  presented 
to  him,  mentioning  to  him  the  actions  in  which  he  had  been 
engaged  during  the  war,  and  singularly  flattered  these  gentlemen 
by  the  excellence  of  his  memory.  .  .  ."' 
282 


THE    DAWN    OF    THE    REVOLUTION 

To  repeat  Louis'  own  words,  the  day  of  his  coronation  and 
that  of  his  arrival  at  Cherbourg  were  "  the  two  happiest  days 
of  his  hfe."  His  reception  was  enthusiastic.  To  the  cries  of 
"  Long  Hve  the  King  !  "  Louis  replied  with  "  Long  live  my 
people  !  "  At  Caen  he  ordered  his  carriage  to  proceed  at  a 
walking  pace,  and  allowed  every  one  to  approach  him.  He 
delighted  in  saying  repeatedly  :  "  They  are  my  children."  The 
rejoicings  were  sincere  on  both  sides. 

On  his  return  to  Versailles  a  second  daughter  was  born  to 
Louis — on  July  9,  but  this  princess  lived  scarcely  a  year.  Then 
Birth  of  a  he  was  swept  away  into  the  whirlpool  of  State 

Princess.  affairs ;     again   he   had   to   bear   the   burden   of 

government,  which  seemed  so  heavy  to  him.  His  people, 
whom  he  loved  and  whom  he  wished  to  see  happy,  fell  a  prey 
to  ministerial  intrigues  ;  and  Louis  had  not  sufficient  penetra- 
tion to  reject  the  bad  counsels  that  were  to  ruin  him.  Following 
Vergennes'  advice  he  signed  a  commercial  treaty  with  England 
on  September  26,  1786,  which  was  advantageous  from  an 
economic  point  of  view,  but  he  fell  once  more  under  the  influence 
of  Calonne's  artifices,  subterfuges,  and  lies. 

At  the  end  of  his  resources  and  at  enmity  with  the  Parlia- 
ment, Calonne  was  obliged  to  reveal  the  situation  ;  in  spite  of 
The  Notables  loans  to  the  extent  of  487,000,000  livres,  the  debt 
convoked.  was  101,000,000,  and  the  deficit  100,000,000  livres, 

but  he  threw  the  blame  on  his  predecessors,  and  as  he  feared 
to  alarm  Louis,  once  more  deceived  him.  He  showed  him  a 
plan,  as  a  last  resource,  which,  he  asserted,  would  ensure  un- 
limited prosperity.  He  asked  and  received  a  promise  of  secrecy 
from  the  King.  An  Assembly  of  Notables  was  to  be  summoned, 
and  proposals  for  the  reform  of  abuses  were  to  be  placed  before 
it.  This  idea,  reminiscent  of  Henri  IV,  caught  Louis'  fancy. 
There  were  a  hundred  and  forty-four  Notables,  among  them 
princes  of  the  blood  royal,  archbishops,  bishops,  dukes  and 
peers,  councillors  of  State,  deputies  from  the  provinces  (four 
from  the  clergy,  six  from  the  nobility,  and  only  two  from  the 
Third  Estate),  and  municipal  officials.  The  majority  were  natu- 
ally  upholders  of  the  abuses  which  were  to  be  remedied.  Calonne, 
from  motives  of  vanity,  affected  to  choose  among  these  Notables 
some  of  the  most  prominent  of  his  enemies,  such  as  the  Arch- 

283 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

bishop  of  Toulouse,  Lom^nie  de  Brienne,  a  candidate  for  the 
ministry,  mIio  was  said  to  be  an  able  administrator.  Calonne 
did  not  wish  his  victory  to  be  unattended  by  risk.  Brienne 
duly  took  care  to  discover  difTiculties  and  to  create  opposition. 

On  December  29,  178C,  the  King  announced  to  the  Conseil 
des  Depechcs  *  that  on  the  29th  of  the  following  month  he  was 
summoning  an  assembly  composed  of  persons  "  of  various 
classes  who  xvcrc  the  best  qualified  in  his  kingdom,  and  that  he 
would  communicate  to  them  his  plans  for  the  relief  of  his  people, 
the  restoration  of  order  in  finance,  and  the  reformation  of  many 
abuses.""  Louis  was  still  under  his  Controller's  influence  and 
he  WTote  to  him  the  next  day  :  "I  did  not  sleep  all  night,  but 
it  was  from  pleasure." 

The  public  Avas  much  excited.  At  Court  fears  were  expressed 
as  to  the  result  of  this  new  authority  ;  a  young  noble,  the 
Popular  Vicomtc  de  S6gur,  cried  :    "  The  King  is  resign- 

Sarcasms.  ing."     In  the  town  there  was  little  confidence  in 

a  minister  like  Calonne,  and  a  section  of  the  population  rejoiced 
in  the  certainty  that  the  Assembly  would  fail.  Nothing  was 
knoAN-n  as  to  the  subjects  which  were  to  be  discussed  in  the 
Assembly,  but  satirists  were  not  far  wrong  when  they  distributed 
pamphlets  announcing  the  spectacle  in  these  terms  :  "  You  are 
informed  that  Monsieur  le  Controleur-G6ncral  has  formed  a  new 
company  of  actors,  who  will  begin  to  play  before  the  Court  on 
Monday,  the  29th  of  this  month.  Their  principal  production 
will  be  False  Confidence,  and  their  second  one  Forced  Consent. 
These  will  be  follow^ed  by  an  allegorical  ballet-pantomime  com- 
posed by  Monsieur  de  Calonne,  entitled  The  Cask  of  the 
Dana  ids. '^ 

At  this  time  Theodore  was  played  in  the  j^resence  of  the 
Queen  at  Versailles.  The  principal  character  in  the  piece  is 
a  King,  who  goes  on  a  journey.  At  a  certain  place  the  King's 
equerry  says  to  his  master  that  there  is  no  more  money  ;  they 
are  both  troubled  and  ask  each  other  what  is  to  be  done  ?  At 
this  moment  a  voice  cried  from  the  pit  :  "  Assemble  the 
Notables.'' 

The  first  sitting,  which  had  been  fixed  for  January  29,  was 
postponed  owing  to  the  illness  of  Calonne  and  the  death  of 

♦  The  Council  for  Internal  Affairs. 
284 


THE    DAWN    OF    THE    REVOLUTION 

Vergennes  on  February  13,  1787.  The  1  alter 's  influence  over 
the  King  would  have  been  very  valuable  at  this  time.  At 
length,  however,  the  Assembly  opened  on  February  22  at  the 
Hotel  des  Menus.  On  his  way  there  the  monareh  received 
neither  cheers  nor  applause. 

But  the  Controller  was  full  of  hope  ;  he  had  divided  the 
Assembly  into  seven  boards,  with  the  princes  as  presidents  and 
the  Councillors  of  State  as  reporters.  There  was  not  one  of  these 
princes  that  Calonne  "  had  not  obliged  with  several  millions." 

The  reforms  proposed  by  the  Controller  were  inspired  by 
those  of  Turgot  and  Necker.  They  were  drawn  up  in  vague 
Calonne's  terms  and  in  a  pompous  style  which  made  the  worst 

Speech.  impression  on  the  Notables  and  on  the  public, 

among  whom  his  speech  at  the  opening  was  widely  distributed. 

Calonne  had  said  that  his  plans,  which  were  known  and 
approved  by  the  King,  had  become  his  Majesty's  own  plans. 
An  altercation  followed  this,  and  Dillon,  Archbishop  of  Nar- 
bonne,  said  in  angry  tones  :  "  Do  you  take  us  for  sheep  and 
imbeciles  that  vou  call  us  together  simply  to  obtain  our  sanction 
to  plans  whic'   are  already  settled  ?  " 

The  mer  jers  of  the  Assembly  all  demanded  to  know  the 
exact  amo  mt  of  the  deficit  before  voting  the  land  taxation, 
which  wtxS  disapproved  by  the  privileged  classes.  They  in- 
sisted on  knowing  the  state  of  the  finances.  Calonne  refused, 
saying  that  it  was  their  duty  to  decide  on  the  form  of  the  tax 
and  not  on  its  basis.  The  Notables  held  firm,  and  some  even 
spoke  of  a  Convocation  of  the  States -General.  The  Controller 
thought  that  audacity  would  once  more  save  him,  and  he 
distributed  in  Paris  and  instructed  all  the  cures  to  read  as  a 
sermon  an  appeal  to  the  people,  representing  the  Notables 
as  upholding  opinions  which  were  opposed  to  the  monarch's 
purpose  and  to  the  happiness  of  his  subjects.  In  the  Assembly 
this  caused  a  tempest  of  accusations  and  complaints  against 
this  shameless  minister.  He  was  confronted  with  his  embezzle- 
ments and  thefts.  La  Fayette,  the  hero  of  America,  demanded 
a  "  rigorous  "  examination  of  the  minister's  expenses,  saying 
that  "  the  fruit  of  the  sweat,  tears  and,  perhaps,  blood  of  the 
people  "  should  not  be  abandoned  to  cupidity.  Calonne  was 
lost.     He  had  prepared  thirty-three  lettres  de  cachet  with  which 

285 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

to  strike  his  adversaries  ;  he  secured  the  dismissal  of  Hue  de 
Miromcsnil,  Keeper  of  the  Seals,  and  replaced  him  by  Lamoig- 
Exile  of  non,  President  of  the  Parliament ;  he  tried  to  ovcr- 

Calonne.  throw  Breteuil,  the  Queen's  protegd,  but  it  was 

himself  that  was  doomed.  He  was  exiled  to  Lorraine,  but  he 
did  not  feel  safe  there,  as  the  people  of  Metz  had  hanged  his 
cfTigy,  so  he  was  allowed  to  retire  to  Flanders,  and  thence  to 
England  in  April  1787.  There  was  some  talk  of  reinstating 
Neekcr,  but  Louis  refused  to  listen  to  the  supporters  of  the 
Genevan  banker,  and  a  Court  intrigue  brought  a  prelate  into 
power.  This  was  Lom^nie  de  Brienne,  Archbishop  of  Toulouse, 
Lom6nie  de  ^vho  had  been  since  youth  a  great  friend  of  the 
Brienne.  Queen's  reader,  the  Abbe  de  Vermond.     He  had 

given  proofs  of  ability  ;  the  construction  of  the  Brienne  Canal 
was  due  to  him,  and  he  had  won  the  approval  of  Turgot  and 
Malesherbes.  Joseph  II  had  met  him  during  his  visit  in  1777, 
and  since  then  had  not  ceased  to  praise  him.  It  seemed  a 
propitious  moment  to  have  recourse  to  the  intelligence  of  a  man 
who  was  so  highly  esteemed.  He  had  secured  public  opinion 
in  his  favour  as  a  victorious  adversary  of  Calonne,  whose  fall 
he  had  helped  to  encompass  by  his  brilliancy  in  the  Assembly 
of  Notables.  Marie-Antoinette  was,  like  many  others,  dazzled 
by  this  so-called  saviour,  and  secured  his  appointment  as  head 
of  the  Financial  Council,  with  a  young  Master  of  Requests, 
Laurent  de  Villedeuil,  Intendant  of  Rouen,  as  Controller-General 
in  subordination  to  him.  The  Queen  was  supported  by  the 
Keeper  of  the  Seals,  Lamoignon,  Vcrgcnnes'  successor,  the  Comte 
de  Montmorin,  and  the  Baron  de  Breteuil.  Brienne  had  tried 
to  satisfy  his  ambition  on  various  occasions.  It  was  common 
knowledge  that  he  had  solicited  the  succession  to  Christophe 
de  Beaumont  in  1781,  when  Louis  XVI  had  said  :  "  We  must  at 
least  have  an  Archbishop  of  Paris  who  believes  in  God."  He  was 
known  to  be  unscrupulous  in  the  means  he  used  to  attain  his 
ends  ;  he  had  secretly  favoured  the  philosophers,  but  had 
never  compromised  himself.  He  laughed  at  miracles  and  relies 
even  though  he  sent  an  elbow-bone  of  Saint  Thomas  Aquinas, 
to  the  Duke  of  Parma,  first  cousin  to  Louis  and  brother-in-law 
of  Marie-Antoinette.  He  was  adroit,  clever,  competent  to  j)lay 
a  j)art,  and  could  easily  assume  the  absorbed  appearance  of  a 
286 


THE    DAWN    OF    THE    REVOLUTION 

man  who  is  busy  with  great  affairs.  He  offended  no  one  and 
flattered  every  one's  particular  vanity,  and  this  was  all  that 
was  necessary  to  secure  him  a  place  beyond  his  deserts  in  the 
public  estimation.  Louis  XVI  had  been  deluded  by  Calonne's 
His  Con-  brilliant  ease  ;    Marie- Antoinette  in  her  turn  was 

cessions.  deceived  by  Brienne's  simulated  intelligence.   The 

Archbishop-Minister  consented  to  disclose  the  state  of  finances 
to  the  Notables,  thus  with  some  skill  granting  what  Calonne 
had  refused,  and  thereby  gaining  the  favour  of  the  Assembly.  It 
was  discovered  that  the  deficit  had  reached  140,000,000  livrcs  ! 
Brienne  proposed  to  the  Parliament  a  loan  of  60,000,000  Uvres, 
promising  to  economize  in  the  King's  Household  to  the  extent 
of  40,000,000  Uvres,  instead  of  the  20,000,000  Uvres  promised 
by  his  predecessor.  The  edict  was  registered  on  May  10,  1787. 
The  Notables,  however,  did  not  wish  to  vote  the  necessary 
taxation  (a  tax  to  be  levied  on  all  lands  and  a  stamp  tax  ) ;  on 
this  point  they  trusted  to  the  "  wisdom  of  His  Majesty."  They 
formulated  their  wishes,  which  were  that  preventive  measures 
should  be  devised  to  meet  the  financial  disorders,  that  a  report 
should  be  published  annually,  which  should  be  audited  by 
capable  men  who  did  not  form  part  of  the  Government,  and  that 
the  civil  and  criminal  laws  should  be  revised.  This  programme 
seemed  to  be  a  preface  to  the  demands  which  were  said  to  be 
imminent.  La  Fayette  suggested  that  a  National  Assembly 
should  be  convened  for  1792. 

"  What  1  Monsieur,"  cried  the  Comte  d'Artois,  "  you  desire 
the  convocation  of  the  States -General  ?  " 

"  Yes,  Monseigneur,  and  even  more  than  that.^'' 

The  Notables  were  dissolved  on  May  25.  "  As  might  have 
been  expected,"  said  Bailly,  "  in  the  case  of  men  who  had  only 
Dismissal  of  the  right  to  advise  and  no  authority,"  they  left 
the  Notables,  things  almost  exactly  as  they  found  them.  But 
the  popular  excitement  was  increasing.  Every  one  had  been 
interested  in  the  discussions  of  the  delegates.  La  Fayette 
told  Jay,  an  American  friend  of  his  :  "  The  French  have 
acquired  the  habit  of  thinking  about  public  affairs." 

The  struggle  had  begun,  and  at  this  juncture  the  Parliament 
entered  the  lists  to  strike  a  fresh  blow  against  the  royal  Acropolis, 
already  trembling  from  the  first  shock. 

287 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

Some  administrative  edicts,  which  were  proposed  by  Brienne, 
were  passed  without  opposition.  The  provincial  Asscmbhcs, 
which  had  been  founded  during  Neckcr's  term  of  ofTice  in  Berry 
and  Haute-Guyennc,  were  definitely  established.  These  Assem- 
blies were  a  successful  and  liberal  step  towards  decentralization. 
They  were  composed  of  forty-eight  members,  twelve  from  tlie 
clergy,  twelve  from  the  nobility,  and  twenty-four  from  the 
Third  Estate,  of  whom  twelve  were  deputies  from  the  towns  and 
twelve  from  the  country  proprietors.  Their  duties  were  to 
assess  and  collect  the  taxes  and  to  supervise  public  works. 
Next  the  corvee  was  suppressed.  But  when  the  stamp  tax 
Attitude  o!  was  proposed,  the  Parlementaires  were  unusually 
the  Parliament,  violent  in  their  opposition  and  attacked  the  ex- 
travagance of  Calonne  and  the  Court.  They  demanded  state- 
ments of  receipts  and  expenditure  to  assist  them  in  their  decision. 
Brienne  refused,  since  he  had  shown  them  to  the  Notables. 
The  King  supported  his  Minister.  The  only  reply  of  the  Parlia- 
ment was  to  draw  up  a  remonstrance,  in  which  it  petitioned  the 
King  to  withdraw  the  stamp  edict  and  expressed  the  desire  "  to 
see  the  nation  assembled  before  there  was  any  fresh  taxation." 
The  remonstrance  was  at  once  printed.  The  public  saw  in  it 
the  trial  of  the  Government,  and  realized  that  all  confidence  had 
been  lost.  The  Parliament  was  considered  justified  and  recovered 
its  former  popularity.  The  agitation  spread  to  the  provinces, 
and  all  the  provincial  Parliaments  rallied  round  that  of  Paris. 
Brienne  had  resort  to  a  lit  de  justice,  but  this  "instrument  of 
despotism  "  was  ridiculed,  and  victory  still  lay  with  the  magis- 
trates. On  August  14, 1787,  Mercy  gave  a  graj)hic  description  of 
the  situation  in  a  dispatch  to  Joseph  H.  The  turn  which  internal 
affairs  are  taking,  he  said,  places  the  King,  Queen,  and  Ministers 
in  the  most  embarrassing  position.  The  obstinate  resistance  of 
the  Parliament  to  the  designs  of  the  Court  has  influenced  men's 
minds.  By  degrees  all  classes  of  society  are  joining  in  the  struggle. 

It  is  difficult  to  imagine  the  audacity  with  wjiich  people 
even  in  public  places  spoke  of  the  royal  family,  and  especially 
the  Queen,  against  whom  violent  insults  were  directed.  Marie- 
Antoinette  became  Madame  Deficit,  and  the  Lieutenant-General 
warned  her  not  to  let  lierself  be  seen  in  Paris.  The  idea  of 
summoning  the  States-General  found  universal  support,  for 
288 


THE    DAWN    OF    THE    REVOLUTION 

it  was  said  the  country  no  longer  had  a  guide.  The  poHce 
were  powerless  to  repress  the  movement ;  even  if  they  had  put 
the  people  in  prison  by  thousands  it  would  have  had  no  effeet ; 
insurrection  would  have  broken  out.  The  King's  prestige  was 
deeply  shaken.  If  the  Court  of  Versailles  at  this  time  had  had 
the  misfortune  to  be  dragged  into  a  war — and  the  negotia- 
tions between  Holland,  Prussia,  and  Great  Britain  were  full 
of  menace  to  France — any  measures  which  might  have  been 
taken  for  safety  would  have  been  useless,  and  a  general  bank- 
ruptcy would  have  been  unavoidable. 

The  country  henceforward  took  the  place  of  the  Parliament 
and  itself  made  war  on  Royalty. 

Meanwhile  the  Queen  went  to  Trianon  to  seek  a  short  rest 
In  the  shade  of  the  park,  Besenval,  one  of  her  confidants,  gave 
Besenval  warns  her  advice,  and  in  his  own  way  revealed  the 
the  Queen.  dangers  of  this  critical  time.  He  advocated  bold- 
ness and  wanted  the  King  to  show  himself  master  and  not  to 
fear  to  use  his  authority  ;  "  otherwise,''''  he  said,  "  his  Majesty 
will  have  to  put  down  his  crown,  never  again,  perhaps,  to  replace 
it  on  his  head.'' 

"  Ah  !  "  cried  the  Queen,  "  what  harm  Monsieur  de  Calonne 
has  done  the  country  with  his  Notables  !  "  This  was  the  cry 
of  the  ardent  Royalists,  but  were  there  many  of  them  left  ? 

During  the  night  between  August  14  and  15  the  Ministers 
decided  to  banish  the  Parliament  to  Troyes,  an  antiquated 
The  Parliament  stratagem  of  another  age,  and  now  only  a  display 
banished.  of  impotence  which  increased  the  popularity  of 

the  magistrates.  In  exile  they  received  the  support  and  en- 
couragement of  the  various  Courts  of  Paris  and  even  of  the 
University.  Reprimands,  which  almost  amounted  to  orders, 
were  sent  from  the  provinces  to  Versailles.  The  King  was 
irresolute,  and  Brienne  profited  thereby  to  get  himself  appointed 
Prime  Minister.  His  excuse  was  that  he  wished  to  concentrate 
the  executive  power,  and  his  vanity  made  him  think  he  could 
pacify  the  disorders.  Lamoignon  wished  to  imitate  Maupeou 
and  dreamed  of  suppressing  all  the  refractory  Parliaments,  which 
were  fixed  in  their  desire  for  the  Convocation  of  the  States-General  ; 
such  was  the  expression  which  was  echoed  from  one  end  of 
France  to  the  other.     It  was  heard  at  Rennes,  Rouen,  Bordeaux, 

T  289 


TH:E    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

Dijon,  Besan5on,  Grenoble,  Toulouse,  and  Pau.  The  Convoca- 
tion was  indeed  to  be,  but  the  Parliament  had  no  suspieion 
that  when  it  came  it  would  mean  the  extinction  of  itself  as 
well  as  of  the  monarchy. 

Brienne  yielded  and  pardoned  the  Parliament,  and  by  a 
declaration  dated  September  20  brought  the  exiles  back  to 
Paris.  Four  days  later  another  declaration  was  published, 
revoking  the  stamp  duties  and  the  territorial  subvention.  It 
was  a  complete  retraction.  But  the  return  of  the  Parliament 
and  these  concessions  had  no  calming  clTcet.  As  before,  insult- 
ing notices  disgraced  the  walls  of  Paris.  Calonne  was  burnt 
in  effigy  in  the  Place  Dauphine  ;  an  efligy  of  "  the  Polignac  " 
was  burnt  also,  and  the  Queen  came  near  to  suffering  the  same 
indignity,  according  to  Bachaumont  and  Hardy.  But  the  un- 
happy Marie-Antoinette  found  her  severest  critics  in  her  own 
family.  On  October  6,  1787,  Joseph  had  no  compunction  in 
^\Titirg  to  Mercy  :  "I  am  extremely  curious  to  learn  how  the 
disorder  which  reigns  in  France  will  end.  I  am  sorry  for  the 
vexation  which  it  causes  the  Queeti.  ...  I  speak  of  it  in  the 
accompanying  letter  to  her,  and  I  touch  in  passing  on  the  subject 
of  her  intimates,  whose  cupidity  brings  all  this  unpleasantness 
upon  her.  But  I  am  aware  that  it  will  have  no  elTect,  for  when 
one  has  no  resources  in  oneself,  the  fear  of  ennui  prevails  over  every 
other  consideration."  What  a  tone  at  such  a  moment !  He  was 
utterly  heartless,  and  it  was  only  to  further  his  own  and  the 
Austrian  interest  that  he  recommended  the  Archbishop  of 
Toulouse  to  the  unfortunate  Queen. 

The  financial  measures  had  so  far  been  illusory.  So  Brienne 
formed  the  plan  of  issuing  a  loan  of  420,000,000  livres,  redeem- 
Promise  to  ^ble  in  five  years,  and  of  promising  the  States- 
convoke  the  General  for  1792.  On  November  19  the  edict  was 
States-General,  read  to  the  Parliament  in  the  King's  presence. 
After  a  sitting  of  nine  hours,  Louis  failed  to  obtain  the  support 
he  needed,  but  he  none  the  less  caused  the  registration  of  the 
edict  to  be  pronounced,  following  the  formula  used  at  the  tits  de 
justice.  This  decision  was  received  with  many  murmurs.  The 
Due  d'Orleans  declared  that  this  form  of  registration  was  illegal, 
that  the  Assembly  was  not  a  lit  de  justice,  but  an  ordinary  royal 
session  with  right  of  free  discussion.  Two  councillors,  Fretcau 
2&0 


THE    DAWN    OF    THE    REVOLUTION 

and  the  Abb^  Sabattier,  uttered  words  which  were  "  indecent." 
They  were  taken  to  prison,  wliile  the  Due  d'Orleans  was  exiled 
to  his  Chateau  of  Villers-Cotterets.  This  Prince  had  at  one 
time  been  popular  at  the  Court,  but  he  became  one  of  the 
bitterest  enemies  of  the  King  and  Queen.  He  even  voted  for 
Louis'  death  ;   he  himself  was  to  perish  on  the  scaffold. 

Fretcau,  Sabattier,  and  Orleans  were  championed  by  the 
Parliament,  which  demanded  their  liberation.  A  quarrel  ensued 
and  Louis  persisted  in  his  refusal.  The  loan  failed,  the  taxes 
were  not  voted,  and  the  situation  became  more  and  more  compli- 
cated. Brienne  had  no  governing  idea,  no  initiative,  and  none 
of  the  talents  with  which  he  had  been  credited  ;  his  attitude 
displayed  nothing  but  feebleness  and  uncertainty.  He  con- 
ceived the  idea  of  summoning  the  Queen  to  the  Committees 
and  of  giving  her  a  preponderating  voice  in  their  decisions. 
Neither  by  her  education  nor  by  her  tastes  was  Marie- Antoinette 
fitted  to  give  useful  counsel.  The  Archbishop  admonished  her  ; 
though  he  may  have  thus  increased  his  prestige,  observes 
Besenval,  "  such  conduct  could  only  have  the  effect  of 
compromising  the  Princess  and  of  making  her  the  object  of 
ridicule." 

Brienne  did  not  neglect  his  own  interests.  On  one  occasion 
he  thought  he  would  be  obliged  to  resign  his  ministry,  owing 
Rapacity  of  to  a  severe  illness  ;  even  while  in  bed  he  coveted 
Brienne.  the  Archbishopric  of  Sens,  rendered  vacant  by 

the  death  of  Cardinal  de  Luynes,  and  the  Abbey  of  Corbie,  and 
he  secured  both.  "  Added  to  this,"  said  Besenval,  was  "  a 
right  to  cut  down  trees  to  the  value  of  900,000  francs,"  which 
was  sufficient  to  pay  his  debts.  "  It  was  forgotten,"  said 
the  same  writer,  "  that  they  were  adding  fuel  to  the  popular 
hatred  by  thus  showering  money  on  one  who  extracted  it 
from  everybody  and  enriched  himself  whilst  he  preached 
economy."  Brienne  already  possessed  an  income  of  700,000 
livres  from  his  ecclesiastical  benefices  alone,  but  he  was  in- 
satiable and  wished  in  addition  to  his  wealth  to  have  the 
honour  of  the  Cardinal's  purple. 

The  Archbishop's  youngest  brother,  the  Comte  de  Brienne, 
replaced  De  Segur  as  Minister  for  War.  He  was  said  to  be 
honest,  but  he  was  shallow  and  very  ignorant     He  had  the 

291 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

best  intentions,  but  his  clTorts  ended  in  his  allowing  himself 
to  be  led  without  having  any  clear  idea  where  he  was  going, 
lie  attempted  some  reforms,  wishing  to  make  a  complete 
reconstruction  of  the  army  and  its  discipline,  but  his  attempts 
soon  degenerated  into  mere  personal  questions  and  came  to 
nothing. 

In  April  1788  the  fever  spread  over  the  whole  country. 
Governors  of  provinces  were  directed  to  return  to  their  posts, 
The  Protest  of  and  the  army  was  ordered  to  support  them.  The 
May  3, 1788.  King  said  aloud  that  he  was  tired  of  being  under 
the  "  tutelage  of  citizens,"  and  that  he  wished  to  "  free  himself 
from  them."  A  coup  d'etat,  in  the  shape  of  a  dissolution  of  the 
Parliament,  was  suggested.  On  May  3  the  Parliament  made  a 
violent  protest  against  the  proposed  measure,  and  declared  that 
"  if  force  reduced  it  to  powerlessness,"  it  would  maintain  the 
constitutional  principles  of  the  monarchy  and  would  resign 
"  the  sacred  trust  to  the  King,  the  States -General,  and  to  each 
of  the  united  or  se})arate  orders  which  formed  the  nation." 
A  comedy  had  been  witnessed  when  the  Notables  were  assembled, 
but  people  began  now  to  fear  that  it  had  been  "  the  first  act 
of  a  tragedy."  The  promoters  of  this  protest  of  May  3  were 
Espremenil  and  Goislard  de  Montsabert  ;  on  the  following 
night  an  attempt  was  made  to  arrest  them,  but  they  took  refuge 
at  the  Palais.  They  were  followed  there  by  the  Swiss  and 
French  Guard.  The  cai)tain  of  the  latter  did  not  know  the 
two  councillors  and  asked  where  they  were  :  "  We  are  all 
d'Esprcmenils  and  Goislards,"  was  the  answer  of  the  entire 
assembly.  The  captain  retired  and  returned  with  a  fresh 
order  ;  the  two  olTenders  gave  themselves  up  and  followed 
the  olFicer.  The  meeting  had  lasted  thirty  hours,  and  the 
magistrates  separated  with  violent  protests  against  the  arrest 
of  two  of  their  members,  who  had  been  "  violently  torn  from 
the  sanctuary  of  law." 

Louis  continued  his  policy,  and  by  the  six  edicts  of  May  8 
reduced  the  Parliament  to  nullity,  instituted  new  Courts  of 
Justice  under  the  name  of  Grands  Bailliagcs,  created  the  Plenary 
Court,  which  alone  was  authorized  to  verify  and  register  laws, 
and  reserved  for  himself  the  power  of  raising  loans  at  will.  The 
Chief  President  bitterly  opposed  this  "  despotic  authority," 
292 


THE    DAWN    OF    THE    REVOLUTION 

which  royalty  claimed,  but  which  the  French  nation  would  never 

adopt. 

In  the  provinces  there  were  the  same  protests  and  a  like 

refusal  to  submit  to  the  new  edicts.     Everywhere  agitation 

Ti  „  c  T>  •  was  at  its  height.  "  A  palace  for  sale,  ministers 
Fall  of  Brienne. .,,  ,,  V^i-  „ 

to  be  hanged,  and  a  crown  to  be  given  away,    was 

to  be  read  on  the  walls  of  the  Parliament  which  had  been  turned 
into  barracks.  Pamphlets  were  dedicated  "  to  the  sovereigns 
who  are  so  pleased  to  see  their  kingdom  become  a  republic."  In 
the  theatre  allusions  of  all  sorts  were  made.  The  Court  used  the 
same  weapons  and  published  libels  and  pamphlets  against  its 
adversaries.  The  promoters  of  sedition  were  arrested,  and  the 
police  were  active  everywhere.  An  explosion  was  expected. 
Brienne  then  said  these  celebrated  words  :  "  I  foresaw  every- 
thing, even  civil  war  !  "  He  tried  to  struggle  against  the  clergy 
who  deserted  him  and  only  granted  180,000  livres  out  of  the 
8,000,000  he  had  expected,  against  the  army  who  disobeyed 
him,  and  against  the  Parliaments  and  all  the  supreme  courts. 
On  August  8  the  King  convened  the  States -General  for  May  1, 
1789,  thus  condemning  the  Archbishop's  policy.  The  Prelate 
declared  the  nation  bankrupt.  He  hoped  to  secure  Necker 
as  his  saviour  and  colleague  ;  but  the  honest  Genevan  did  not 
wish  to  work  with  an  unscrupulous  minister  who  had  even 
had  recourse  to  charity  and  hospital  funds,  and  who  with  his 
colleague  Lamoignon,  was  now  about  to  overdraw  on  the 
Treasury  *  as  a  final  impropriety,  leaving  there  only  200,000 
francs.  At  last,  on  August  25,  Brienne  sent  in  his  resignation, 
or  rather  he  was  forced  to  resign  :  "I  think  that  this  was 
necessary,"  said  Marie- Antoinette  to  Mercy  on  the  same  day  ; 
"  I  have  just  written  three  lines  to  Monsieur  Necker  to  ask 
him  to  come  here  to  me  at  ten  o'clock  to-morrow.  There  is 
no  time  for  hesitation.  If  he  can  begin  work  to-morrow  so 
much  the  better.  .  .  .  I  tremble — excuse  my  weakness — that 
it  is  I  who  am  recalling  him.  I  am  fated  to  bring  misfortune  ; 
and  if  infernal  machinations  make  him  fail  again,  or  if  he  lessens 
the  King's  authority,  I  shall  be  still  more  detested.  ..."  For  the 
future  the  Queen  never  ceased  to  tremble. 

The  news  of  Brienne 's  departure,  quickly  followed  by  that 
*  By  means  of  Treasury  Bills. 

293 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

of  Lamoignon,  caused  immense  joy  to  the  Parisians  and  all 
France,  and  the  crowd  washed  to  set  fire  to  the  houses  of  the 
two  ministers.  Bcscnval  says  that  the  Place  Dauphinc  was 
like  a  field  of  battle,  petards  were  thrown  about,  carriages  were 
stopped  on  the  Pont  Neuf,  and  men  were  obliged  to  kneel 
down  in  front  of  the  statue  of  Henri  IV  and  cry,  "Vive 
Henri  IV  ;   to  the  devil  with  Bricnne  and  Lamoignon  !  " 

Neckcr  returned  to  power  and  immediately  restored  con- 
fidence. He  undid  all  that  Bricnne  had  done,  repealed  the 
Return  of  edicts,    liberated    the    exiles,    reconstituted    the 

Necker.  Parliament  and  revoked  the  edict  of  bankruptcy, 

promising  his  own  fortune  as  a  pledge  for  loans  made  to  the  State. 
In  a  declaration  on  September  23  the  King  fixed  the  meeting 
of  the  States-General  for  an  earlier  date,  January  1,  1789. 
But  Neckcr  thought  it  would  be  ^^^sc  to  call  the  Notables  to- 
gether again  to  decide  questions  relative  to  the  tlu-ce  Orders, 
and  thus  months  passed  away. 

The  new  era  began  on  May  5,  1780,  with  the  assembly  of 
the  representatives  of  the  country.  The  Revolution  was  born 
and  was  already  lusty  when  the  procession  of  deputies,  the 
funeral  procession  of  the  monarchy,  passed  through  the 
streets  of  Versailles. 

"  It  is  with  the  person  of  kings,"  said  Rivarol,  "  as  with 
the  statues  of  gods  :  the  first  blows  strike  the  god  himself,  the 
last  fall  only  on  the  disfigured  marble." 

Principal  Souhces.     Same  as  for  the  preceding  chapter. 


294 


FIFTH  PART 

THE  ARTISTIC  AND  LITERARY 
MOVEMENT 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

I 

THE  ARTS 

Watteau,    Quentin   de   La   Tour,    Chardin,    Greuze,    Coysevox, 

Bouchardon,    Pigalle,    Caffleri,    Falconnet,    Lemoyne,    Houdon, 

Clodion,  Gabriel,  Rameau. 

TWO    great    painters   dominate  the  eighteenth  century — 
Watteau  and  La  Tour.      Watteau  was   a  true  creative 
genius  and  owed  everything  to  his  own  talent.     Where 
among  those  who  went  before  him  can  we  find  his  easy  grace, 
his    deHcate    charm,    or    his    delicious  tones  and 
Watteau.  design  ?     He  had  no  doubt  studied  Rubens  and 

admired  the  Venetians  in  the  Crozat  Gallery,  and  perhaps  he 
owed  to  them  something  of  his  life,  but  not  his  colour,  for  a 
sense  of  colour  is  innate.  He  had  seen  Terburgs,  Teniers  and 
Van  Ostades,  and  from  them  he  may  have  borrowed  the  small - 
ness  of  his  canvases.  But  he  owed  nothing  else  to  anyone.  The 
poetry  which  flutters  through  his  scenes  galantes,  the  essentially 
French  air  which  appears  in  the  expressions  on  his  faces,  the 
landscapes  which  harmonize  so  well  with  the  character  of  the 
actors — all  these  reveal  an  exquisite  imagination  and  a  finished 
art ;    all  these  are  unique. 

His  influence,  on  the  contrary,  was  great.  All  through  the 
century  we  see  painter  after  painter  more  or  less  directly  in- 
spired by  Watteau's  work :  Lancret,  his  friend,  who  was  more 
sober,  more  deliberate,  and  who  lacked  his  light  fancy  and 
picturesque  feeling ;  Pater,  who  came  from  Valenciennes  as 
did  the  poet  of  the  Embarkation  and  was  for  a  time  his  pupil ; 
Van  Loo,  whose  Halt  of  Sportsmen  is  in  the  Louvre,  and  Jean- 
Fran9ois  de  Troy,  whose  Oyster  Feast  is  at  Chantilly ;  Natoire, 
who  painted  the  decorations  in  the  Hotel  de  Soubise  (Archives 

297 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

Nationales)  which  are  still  so  fresh,  and  a  whole  scries  of  panels 
now  in  the  Museum  of  Troycs,  but  originally  executed  for 
the  castle  of  Prince  Xavicr  of  Saxony  ;  *  Boucher,  who  had  time 
in  his  long  life  sometimes  to  be  a  true  artist,  as  for  instance  in 
the  ceiling  of  the  Council  Chamber  at  Fontainebleau,  but  has 
left  behind  him  too  many  insipid  canvases  without  any  real 
beauty  ;  Lagren^e  and  Le  Prince,  who  were  only  second-rate 
painters  ;  and  above  all,  Fragonard,  the  last  to  come,  who  was 
borne  at  Grasse  beneath  the  sun  of  Provence,  and  brought  to  life 
again  the  brilliance,  the  warmth  of  colour  and  the  consummate 
art  of  the  poet  of  the  Regency.  From  one  end  of  the  century 
to  the  other  Wattcau  and  Fragonard  join  hands,  and  enclose 
the  host  of  imitators  who  serve  to  emphasize  their  consummate 
mastery.  Both  celebrated  and  transmitted  the  fetes  galantes 
of  the  eighteenth  century  ;  they  revive  that  time  of  splendid 
carelessness,  whose  children  smiled  and  frolicked,  and  inhaled 
the  perfume  of  roses  without  thinking  of  the  catastrophes  which 
were  to  dispel  their  charming  dreams,  fugitive  and  illusory,  like 
all  things  human.  .  .  . 

Others  also  followed  this  school  :  Ollivicr,  for  instance,  the 
Prince  de  Conti's  painter  in  ordinary — his  pictures  are  rare, 
but  his  The  a  Vanglaise  in  the  Louvre  is  sufficient  to  show  the 
delicacy  of  his  brush.  Eisen,  Portail,  Cochin,  Gravelot,  Bau- 
doin,  Saint-Aubin  and  Morcau  have  shown  in  engravings, 
sketches,  and  vignettes  their  persistent  anxiety  to  imitate 
Wattcau. 

In  the  eighteenth  century  before  La  Tour  there  were  portrait- 
painters  who  are  not  to  be  disregarded  :  Tourniercs,  an  excellent 
Quentin  de  physiognomist ;  Belle,  to  whom  we  owe  the  charm- 
La  Tour.  ing  portrait  at  Versailles  of  the  Infanta  betrothed 
to  Louis  XV  ;  Rigaud  and  Largillierc,  and  an  artist  inferior  to 
them,  Vivien  ;  Nattier,  who  was  popular  with  ladies  ;  the 
beautiful  as  well  as  the  ugly  flocked  to  him  knowing  that  they 
would  be  well  treated  ;  Tocqu6,  who  painted  the  delicate  por- 
trait of  Marie,   wife  of  Louis  XV,   in  the  Louvre.     But  the 

*  Natoire  said  to  Vien  :  "  What  is  the  good  of  painting  from  Nature  ? 
What   dilficulty   is   there   in   taking  a  model   and   copying   it  ?  "      This 
negligence   is   perceptible   in  Natoire's   work,   although   their  decorative 
effect  is  so  charming. 
298 


THE    ARTS 

pastellist  of  Saint-Quentin  is  incontestably  the  most  marvellous 
representative  of  the  art  of  portrait-painting  in  France.  Not 
that  he  knew  how  to  compose,  but  he  had  a  better  gift,  for 
he  could  give  to  a  face  something  intangible,  expressive  life, 
brilliance  and  truth.  We  must  go  to  his  native  town  and  study 
his  sketches — simple  heads  drawn  from  models — to  see  how 
beautifully  a  face  may  be  reproduced,  not  only  in  its  physical 
but  in  its  moral  aspects. 

La  Tour  said  himself  :  "  My  models  think  that  I  catch  only 
the  features  of  their  faces,  but  I  search  into  the  depths  of  their 
hearts  without  their  knowing  it,  and  I  take  the  whole  of  them 
away  with  me."  These  sketches,  most  of  them  anonymous, 
which  are  kept  in  the  silent  provincial  sanctuary,  were  used  by 
the  artist  to  enable  him  to  repaint  at  leisure  an  elaborate  portrait, 
which  was  not  always  equal  to  the  first  eager  record,  set  down 
in  an  hour  or  two.  At  Dijon  there  is  to  be  seen  a  head  of  the 
artist  painted  by  himself,  in  which  perhaps  all  the  qualities  of 
his  talent  are  displayed,  and  a  very  beautiful  sketch  of  Joseph 
Vernet.  To  obtain  an  insight  into  the  art  of  the  pastellist 
these  sketches  should  first  be  studied.  It  is  then  easier  to 
appreciate  the  finished  works  which  are  to  be  seen  in  the  Louvre 
and  some  of  the  museums  of  the  large  towns  of  France.  Although 
the  portrait  of  Madame  de  Pompadour  is  not  worthy  of  all  the 
praise  that  has  been  bestowed  on  it,  the  same  cannot  be  said 
of  the  portraits  of  Marie  Lesczynska  and  Marie-Jos^phe  of 
Saxony,  the  Dauphiness,  in  the  same  room  at  the  Louvre,  which 
so  admirably  suggest  the  resignation  of  the  former  and  the  good- 
ness of  the  latter,  and  give  us  at  the  same  time  a  complete 
idea  of  La  Tour's  versatility  and  the  perfection  of  his  art.  The 
means  by  which  the  painter  achieved  his  results  are  forgotten 
in  the  impression  of  life  that  they  produce  ;  the  princesses  seem 
to  smile  at  us  as  though  they  were  about  to  entrust  us  with  a 
secret  ! 

La  Tour's  character  was  as  individual  as  his  art.  He  was 
frank  like  his  pastels.  He  sent  a  message  to  the  Marquise  de 
His  original  Pompadour  when  she  asked  him  to  come  to  Ver- 
Character.  sailles,  saying,  "  Tell  Madame  that  I  do  not  paint 

in  a  town."  However,  he  consented  to  go  to  her  on  condition 
that  no  one  should  interrupt  him.  This  he  was  promised.  When 

299 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

he  arrived  lie  unfastened  his  shoes,  his  garters  and  his  eolhir, 
took  off  his  wi<T  and  hung  it  on  a  girandole,  put  a  silk  skidl- 
cap  on  his  head,  and  in  this  pieturesque  dcsluihiUe  began  the 
portrait.     At  the  end  of  a  quarter  of  an  hour  Louis  XV  eaine  in. 

"You  promised,  Madame,"  said  the  painter,  "that  your 
door  should  be  closed." 

The  King  laughed  heartily  and  told  the  artist  to  continue. 

"  It  is  impossible  for  me  to  obey  Your  Majesty,"  answered 
this  original,  "  I  will  return  when  Madame  is  alone." 

He  got  up,  took  his  wig  and  garters,  and  went  grumbling 
into  another  room.     He  was  heard  to  say  several  times  : 

"  I  don't  like  to  be  interrupted." 

Louis  took  a  very  witty  revenge.  La  Tour,  who  was  a  poli- 
tician and  a  philosopher  at  times,  took  the  liberty  of  saying 
to  the  King  :   "  Sire,  we  have  no  ships." 

"  You  forget  those  of  Vernct,"  replied  the  monarch. 

There  is  no  worse  trial  for  a  painter  than  to  be  discontented 
with  the  model  he  is  forced  to  paint.  This  was  the  case  when 
La  Tour  undertook  the  portrait  of  the  celebrated  financier,  Dc 
La  Reynicre,  who  missed  his  a})pointment  one  day  and  sent  his 
servant  to  tell  La  Tour  that  he  had  not  time  to  come. 

"  My  friend,"  said  the  painter  to  the  domestic,  "  your  master 
is  an  imbecile  whom  I  ought  never  to  have  painted.  .  .  .  Your 
face  pleases  me,  sit  down,  your  features  are  intelligent,  I  am 
going  to  paint  your  portrait.  I  tell  you  again,  your  master  is 
an  idiot." 

"  But,  sir,  bethink  you  !  If  I  don't  go  back  to  the  house  I 
shall  lose  my  place." 

"  Never  mind  !  I  will  find  a  place  for  you  ...  let  us  begin." 

La  Tour  sat  down  to  his  easel.  Monsieur  de  La  Reynicre 
dismissed  his  valet  the  same  evening.  The  servant's  portrait 
was  exhibited  in  the  Salon  and  the  anecdote  was  told  every- 
where ;  every  one  wished  to  know  the  hero  of  the  alTair,  and  soon 
there  was  rivalry  as  to  who  should  obtain  him  for  a  servant. 

Amongst  the  portrait-painters  contemporary  with  La  Tour 
was  his  friend  Perronneau,  whose  colour  is  conventional  but 
whose  drawing  is  attractive,  lie  is  cold,  and  his  coldness 
gives  him  a  style  and  dignity  which  are  respectable.  There 
were  also  Avcd  and  Duplessis,  the  latter  of  whom  is  brilliantly 
300 


THE    ARTS 

represented  in  the  Museum  at  Avignon  and  the  Museum  at 
Carpentras,  his  native  town.  There  are  portraits  of  Louis  XVI 
and  his  brothers  by  him  at  Versailles,  but  they  give  less  pleasure 
than  his  portrait  of  his  compatriot,  the  seulptor  Peru,  in  the 
Calvet  Museum.  Here  Duplessis  surpasses  himself  and  is  the 
Madame  Vigee-  precursor  of  the  romantic  painters.  Madame 
Lebrun.  Vigee-Lebrun,  who  has  left  several   portraits  of 

Marie-Antoinette  and  the  charming  picture  in  the  Louvre  in 
which  she  represents  herself  holding  her  daughter  in  her  arms, 
must  not  be  forgotten,  though  her  art  is  not  perhaps  very 
original.  She  possesses  charm  but  not  sufficient  fidelity,  for  her 
portraits  are  not  very  like  their  originals,  and  this  fault  is  not 
redeemed  by  her  method,  which  is  uninteresting,  nor  by  her 
colouring,  which  is  more  a  process  than  a  reproduction  of  nature. 

Another  woman,  Madame  Guiard,  had  a  virile  and  realistic 
talent,  and  many  of  the  qualities  which  Madame  Vigee-Lebrun 
lacked,  but  her  chief  excellence  was  a  robust  technique. 

Side  by  side  with  the  genre  painters,  the  creators  of  a  land  of 
poetry,  and  the  protrait-painters,  we  find  historical  painters,  the 
successors  of  Le  Brun  and  Le  Sueur.  The  King  encouraged 
them  from  habit  and  a  sense  of  veneration.  State  commissions 
still  went  to  such  painters  as  Jouvenet,  Coypel,  Subleyras, 
Historical  Pierre,    Doyen    and    Vien.      How    futile    were 

Painters.  the  efforts  made  under  the  vigilant  eyes    of   an 

official  Maecenas,  the  Due  d'Antin,  Tournehem,  Marigny,  or 
the  Comte  d'Angivilliers  !  Louis  XIV  or  Louis  XV  could  not 
have  dispensed  with  an  official  painter.  Mariette,  in  his 
Abecedario,  records  a  significant  remark  of  Gersaint,  Watteau's 
master,  who  said  :  "  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  Watteau's  first 
studies  were  not  historical  paintings.  It  is  to  be  presumed  that 
he  would  have  become  one  of  the  greatest  painters  of  France." 
To  think  that  Watteau  might  not  have  been  Watteau  is  to 
imagine  that  a  rose-bud  might  develop  into  a  thistle.  People 
were  blinded  by  the  prestige  gained  by  the  daubers  of  enormous 
canvases  ;  they  did  not  think  that  one  day  Gersaint's  regrets 
would  contribute  to  his  pupil's  apotheosis. 

In  this  century  of  frills  and  furbelows,  of  the  Pompadour,  of 
laughter  and  grace,  of  the  return  to  nature,  historical  pictures 
were  an  anachronism.     The  heroes  of  Athens  and  Rome  were 

301 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

too  remote  ;  their  cold  appearance  in  the  seventeenth  century 
had  created  nothing  ;  the  arid  soil  could  produce  no  niorc  ;  it 
needed  a  redeemer  ;  David  came  in  the  epic  time  at  the  end 
of  tlic  century  and  in  the  midst  of  the  triumphs  of  Napoleon, 
threw  off  the  leading  strings  of  his  classical  education  and  con- 
stituted himself  a  bold  and  victorious  innovator.  But  it  is  not 
within  the  scope  of  the  present  work  to  recount  that  period  of 
France's  glory  ;  we  must  be  content  to  record  the  birth  of  a  new 
genre,  cleverly  grafted  on  traditional  convention. 

We  must  further  note  particularly  the  fathers  of  modern 
landscape  painting,  and  after  them  the  painters  of  popular 
Beginnings  of  scenes,  before  completing  this  brief  study  of  our 
Landscape  debt  to  the  eighteenth  century.     A  tendency  to 

Painting.  show  the  time  of  day  in  the  open  air,  in  a  park,  or 

at  the  outskirts  of  a  forest  is  already  to  be  seen  in  the  hunting- 
scenes  of  Desportes  and  Oudry,  though  they  are  timid  attempts 
in  which  people  and  animals  are  still  the  most  important  points. 
Joseph  Vernet  was  the  first  to  strike  the  right  note  ;  he  seemed 
to  prej)are  the  way  for  Corot  with  his  little  views  of  Rome,  the 
Ponte  Rotto  enveloped  in  the  morning  mist,  and  the  Castle  of 
Saint  Angela  with  its  delicate  greys  and  its  golden  tints,  the 
treasures  of  one  of  the  rooms  of  the  French  School  at  the  Louvre. 
When  looking  at  these  pictures  we  recall  the  naive  criticism  of 
Mariette  :  "  It  is  by  studying  from  nature  and  by  working  with 
the  greatest  application,  that  he  (Vernet)  has  acquired  so 
beautiful  a  touch,  and  has  learned  to  render  so  truthfully 
the  light  and  shade  and  the  effects  produced  on  the  air  by  the 
vapours  which  rise  from  the  earth  or  the  water,  drawn  upwards 
by  the  sun."  It  is  in  studying  from  nature  !  This  was  the 
great  innovation  of  this  period,  in  some  ways  so  artificial.  The 
series  of  the  Ports  de  France,  w^hieh  Vernet  painted  by  command 
of  Louis  XV,  arc  still  in  the  Louvre.  In  detail  they  are 
very  delicate,  but  as  a  whole  they  have  an  air  of  official 
monotony. 

Italy  brought  luck  to  Vernet,  and  it  was  there,  also,  in  the 
shade  of  the  Coliseum,  that  Hubert  l^obcrt  found  his  vocation. 
lie  brought  back  from  Rome,  from  the  studio  of  Panini,  a  taste 
for  ruins  and  a  talent  for  painting  them.  Robert  knew  how  to 
compose  with  intelligence  and  art,  he  put  sun,  a  real  sun,  on 
302 


THE    ARTS 

his  ancient  stones,  he  Hghtened  his  palette,  gave  depth  to  the 
sky,  and  poetry  to  the  silence  of  ruined  temples. 

France  has  her  Canaletto  in  Pierre  Antoinc  de  Machy.  He 
was  less  brilliant  and  spontaneous  than  the  Venetian  master, 
but  his  views  of  Paris,  of  which  there  are  a  great  number  in  the 
Carnavalet  Museum,  have  a  certain  interest,  although  they  are 
perhaps  cold.  Comparing  Hubert  Robert  and  Machy,  Diderot 
in  his  Salon  of  1761  made  this  very  just  remark  :  "I  watch 
Machy,  ruler  in  hand,  drawing  the  grooves  of  his  columns. 
Robert  has  thrown  all  such  instruments  out  of  the  window  and 
has  only  kept  his  brushes."  This  was  a  good  exposition  of  the 
verve  and  warmth  of  the  true  painter,  and  the  dry  precision  of 
the  architect. 

The  cottage  also  had  its  exponents.  A  shepherd,  Simon 
Mathurin  Lantara,  displayed  his  powers  in  some  very  interesting 
works,  landscapes  of  the  neighbourhood  of  Beziers,  Blois,  and 
even  Trieste,  which,  save  that  they  lack  the  perspective  of  fine 
palaces  and  the  outlines  of  large  ships,  might  compete  with  those 
of  Claude  Lorrain.  With  these  happy  creations,  moonlight, 
setting  sun,  and  mist  effects,  may  be  classed  the  pictures  of 
Lazare  Bruandet,  Louis  Gabriel  Moreau's  fresh  landscapes 
round  Paris,  and  Jean  Louis  de  Marne's  beautiful  perspectives  ; 
they  have  a  historical  significance.  The  origin  of  the  French 
School  of  1830,  the  School  of  Rousseau,  Troyon  and  Jules 
Dupre,  must  be  sought  among  these  early  landscape  painters, 
as  well  as  in  the  famous  Constable  in  the  Louvre. 

Two  artists  remain  to  be  mentioned,  not  equally  appreciated, 
but  both  very  popular,  one  beloved  of  connoisseurs,  and  the 
other  the  favourite  of  the  Sunday  public  at  the 
Louvre.  Chardin  and  Greuze  have  still  their 
ardent  admirers.  Chardin  has  brought  before  us  with  splendid 
power  the  poorer  classes,  their  surroundings  and  atmo- 
sphere. Without  him  we  should  know  but  little  of  the  modest 
existences  he  has  so  lovingly  reproduced  in  pictures  now  hanging 
in  places  of  honour  in  the  various  museums.  If  we  were  to 
judge  the  eighteenth  century  solely  from  the  point  of  view  of 
its  painters,  we  should  get  a  very  incomplete  idea  of  it  without 
Chardin.  It  is  a  pleasure  to  see  his  picture  of  the  good  mother 
setting    her   children   down    to  table  and   asking   a  blessing 

303 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

on  the  food.  Her  clothing  is  graceful,  but  displays  nothing 
fanciful,  no  false  elegance  ;  she  is  a  true  bourgcoise.  This 
conii)osition  is  exquisitely  simple  ;  it  is  drawn  with  a  broad 
and  able  brush,  witlujut  any  harsh  notes  ;  its  sober  harmony  is 
perfect.  How  much  is  due  to  Chardin  for  having  painted  with 
such  feeling  and  delicacy  what  he  saw  every  day,  instead  of 
wandering  in  some  operatic  Olympus,  some  dream  country, 
instead  of  bedizening  his  figures  in  the  finery  of  past  genera- 
tions !  He  was  a  true  child  of  his  century  ;  he  gives  us  a  clear 
impression  of  the  familiar  people  who  lived  around  him  ;  and 
as  he  had  no  imagination,  he  had  sufficient  wit  not  to  force  his 
talent.  It  was  incontcstably  wise  of  Chardin,  who  was  natur- 
ally an  unpoetieal  painter,  to  be  content  with  prose.  Besides 
his  interiors  he  has  left  pictures  of  still-life  which  are  a  feast 
for  the  eyes.  In  them  the  light  caresses  the  objects  and  puts 
them  into  high  relief;  beautifully  shaped  fragile  porcelain, 
flowers,  fruit,  and  articles  of  food,  form  so  many  pretexts  for 
giving  us  a  lesson  on  art,  for  showing  us  that  the  most  common- 
place object  is  capable  of  expressing  correctness  of  drawing 
and  the  magic  of  colour.  When  Chardin  had  grown  old  and 
rich  in  experience,  he  began  to  paint  pastel  portraits,  amongst 
others  his  own  and  that  of  his  second  wife,  Marguerite  Pouget, 
now  in  the  Louvre.  They  hang  near  the  collection  of  LaTours, 
and  bear  this  proximity  bravely.  It  must  be  admitted  when 
looking  at  the  works  of  this  faithful  master  that  the  eighteenth 
century  was  not  entirely  the  beribboned  reign  of  afTected  pom- 
padourerics.  Diderot  has  given  an  excellent  definition  of  his 
art.  "  One  stops  before  a  Chardin,"  he  says,  "  almost  in- 
stinctively, as  a  traveller  who  is  tired  with  a  long  journey  sits 
down,  ])ractically  without  realizing  it,  in  a  spot  where  there  is 
a  green  bank,  silence,  water,  shade  and  freshness." 

Chardin  was  content  with  scanty  remuneration  ;  he  was 
accustomed  to  live  on  very  little.  One  day  he  was  painting  a 
hare  when  his  friend,  Le  Bas  the  engraver,  came  in  upon  him. 
Le  Bas  admired  the  hare  and  wanted  to  buy  it. 

"  It  can  be  arranged,"  said  the  painter  ;  "  you  havT  a  jacket 
which  pleases  me  very  miich." 

Le  Bas  took  off  his  coat  and  carried  away  the  picture. 

Diderot  tells  of  a  conversation  of  Chardin's  in  which  he 
304 


THE    ARTS 

appeals  for  indulgence  and  this  is  what  he  said  :  "  Gentlemen, 
gentlemen,  be  merciful  !  Find  the  worst  among  all  these 
pictures  here,  and  know  that  two  thousand  miserable  painters 
have  broken  their  brushes  between  their  teeth  in  despair  of 
doing  even  as  much.  .  .  .  He  who  has  not  felt  the  difficulty  of  art 
can  do  nothing  of  value  .  .  .  and  be  assured  that  the  majority 
of  the  high  places  in  society  would  be  empty  if  their  occupants 
were  submitted  to  an  examination  as  severe  as  that  we  undergo. 
.  .  .  Good-bye,  gentlemen,  be  indulgent !  "  These  are  the 
moving  words  of  an  old  man  with  a  heart  full  of  love  and  kind- 
ness.    How  delightful  an  artist  and  good  a  man  was  Chardin  ! 

Greuze  was  the  opposite  of  Chardin,  a  sentimental  painter. 
He  has  left  too  many  affected  pictures  for  us  to  take  his  melo- 
dramatic  scenes  seriously,  although  they  are  much 
praised  by  Diderot,  who  saw  in  them  his  own 
ideas  on  canvas.  Greuze  was  certainly  made  by  the  famous 
critic,  as  Plutarch  was  made  by  Montaigne  and  Shakespeare. 
His  moral  and  moralizing  art  pleased  Diderot,  who  wished 
painting,  like  his  own  plays,  to  be  a  school  of  fine  principles, 
and  thought  that  he  had  found  in  Greuze  the  apostle  of  his 
dreams.  Chardin  taught  honesty  naturally,  almost  involun- 
tarily ;  he  did  not  know  how  to  teach  anything  else.  Greuze's 
peasant  girls  are  artificial — these  pretty  flowersellers  know 
nothing  of  the  country  but  the  flowers  which  are  brought  to 
Paris  and  sold  by  them  to  the  passers-by.  They  know  that  they 
are  pretty,  they  have  been  told  so  by  many,  and  this  is  apparent 
in  their  enticing  little  faces.  Yet  Greuze  thought  he  was  follow- 
ing the  path  of  virtue.  He  set  sail  for  Athens,  intending  to 
offer  a  sacrifice  to  Minerva,  but  he  missed  his  way,  and  put 
into  another  port. 

Diderot  was  not  blind  to  Greuze's  faults  ;  he  has  noted, 
discreetly  it  is  true,  his  principal  deficiencies.  He  saw  that  his 
figures  lacked  variety  and  that  Teniers  was  "  very  superior  to 
him  in  colour."  We  must  not  be  more  severe  than  Diderot. 
The  Accordee  de  Village  {Village  Bride),  which  was  exhibited  in 
the  Salon  in  1761,  had  a  great  success,  and  even  now  gets  much 
praise  from  the  general  public.  But  the  bride  does  not  look 
as  if  she  had  come  from  a  village,  and  it  is  difficult  to  understand 
the  part  played  by  the  twelve  comic  opera  actors,  who  are 

u  805 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

artificially  posed  as  if  to  produce  some  effect  at  the  finale  of 
an  act. 

The  sculptors  were  faithful  to  the  French  traditions, 
combining  style  with  grace  and  suppleness.  The  exigencies  of 
their  art  were  not  the  same  as  in  the  time  of  Louis  XIV  ;  the 
standard  of  architecture  had  lowered  several  degrees,  as  had  the 
royal  prestige  itself,  and  artists  were  no  longer  required  to 
decorate  the  vast  perspectives  of  Versailles,  or  the  large  halls  of 
the  jmlace.  People  of  this  age  loved  privacy  ;  they  invented 
"  little  apartments  "  and  in  their  gardens  affected  pavilions, 
and  tiny  temples  shut  in  by  thickets. 

The  school  of  Coysevox  was  continued  by  his  nephews,  Nicole 

and  Guillaume  Coustou,  the  last  of  whom  was  the  sculptor  of  the 

The  Coustous,    Chcvaux  de  Marly,  now  at  the  entrance  to  the 

etc.  Champs-Elys6es,  a  superb  group  in  which  Atalanta 

and  Hippomenes  are  seen  curbing  the  fire  of  their  rearing  steeds. 

The  design  is  noble  and  the  contours  ingenious.     In  these  we 

are  still  very  near  to  the  great  century,  and  the  same  may  be 

said  of  the  unparalleled  daring  of  Robert  Le  Lorrain's  bas-relief, 

the  Chcvaux  du  Soleil  conduHs  a  Vabrcuvoir  (Watering  the  Horses 

of  the  Sun),  which  adorns  the  stables  of  the  Hotel  de  Rohan  in 

the    Marais    (Imprimerie    Nationale).     Bouchardon,     Pigalle, 

Cafficri,  Le  Moyne,  Falconnet,  Houdon,  and  Clodion  are  most 

distinctly  of  the  Louis  XV  and  Louis  XVI  period.     Bouchardon 

combined  the  talents  of  architect  and  sculptor.     He  executed 

unaided  the  fountain  in  the  Rue  de  Grenclle,  ordered  by  the 

Provost  of  Merchants  in   1739   "  for  the   convenience  of  the 

inhabitants   and  the   adornment   of  the   town."     Pigalle  won 

fame  by  the  somewhat  complicated  tomb  of  Maurice  de  Saxc  in 

the   Protestant   Church   of  Saint   Thomas   at    Strasburg.     Le 

Moyne  and  l^hilippe  Cafficri  brought  the  art  of  carving  portraits 

to  perfection — their  busts  of  Rotrou,  the  two  Cornoilles  and 

Clairon  are  preserved  in  the  Com^die  Fran9aise.     Here  again 

Houdon  is  pre-eminent  with  his  a-sthetic  statue  of  Voltaire. 

Falconnet  with  his  Three  Graces  (which  was  exliibited  in  Paris 

in  1900  and  excited  general  admiration)  produced  the  entirely 

new   genre  of  the  artistic  trifle.     He  was  rivalled  by  Clodion 

who  was  despised  in  his  own  times,  but  is  now  in  high  favour. 

The  factory  of  Sevres,  founded  in   opposition  to  the  Dresden 

306 


THE    ARTS 

china    factories,   helped    to    stimulate    the    art   of   miniature 
figures. 

The  architecture  of  the  eighteenth  century  has  suffered  much 
from  devastation.  The  beautiful  chateaux  round  Paris,  so  well 
Architects  :  adapted  to  private  life  and  small  gatherings,  such 
Gabriel,  etc.  as  Choisy-le-Roi,  Bellevue,  Luciennes  and 
Bagnolet,  were  an  easy  prey  to  the  revolutionary  hordes,  but 
prints  still  show  us  what  they  were.  The  Petit-Trianon,  a 
triumph  of  graceful  proportions  and  elegant  simplicity  of  line, 
still  remains  ;  it  was  built  (1762-1768)  by  Gabriel,  the  best 
architect  of  his  time,  and  the  one  who  had  the  most  respect  for 
French  taste.  Brimborion,  above  Sevres,  and  Bagatelle,  in 
the  midst  of  the  Bois  de  Boulogne,  are  two  other  retreats  which 
awaken  memories  of  gentle  souls  who  loved  the  country,  and 
of  great  ladies  who  played  at  being  shepherdesses.  Under 
Louis  XV  Saint-Sulpice  was  built  by  the  Chevalier  Servandoni, 
an  Italian  settled  in  France,  more  skilled  in  arranging  the 
decorations  of  royal  fetes  or  of  the  opera  than  in  constructing 
a  really  religious  church.  Sainte-Genevi6ve,  later  to  become 
the  Pantheon,  was  also  built  during  this  reign.  Here  Soufflot 
combined  ancient  and  Renaissance  architecture  ;  and  sacrificed 
to  the  fashionable  sham  Greek  and  Roman  style  of  the  day, 
which  menaced  the  splendid  Gothic  cathedrals,  for  there 
were  those  who  would  have  liked  to  have  reconstructed  them 
and  "  adorned  "  them  with  colonnades  and  pediments.  Among 
the  civil  buildings  must  be  mentioned  the  ificole  Militaire  and 
the  Garde-Meuble,  now  the  Ministry  of  Marine,  both  by  Gabriel, 
and  the  Place  Louis  XV,  now  the  Place  de  la  Concorde,  the 
design  of  which  was  by  the  same  architect,  the  descendant  of  a 
line  of  artists  already  celebrated  under  Louis  XIV. 

Though  Louis  XV  built  he  also  demolished.  We  shall  never 
cease  to  regret  the  disappearance  of  the  Galerie  d'Ulysse  at 
Fontainebleau,  which  extended  on  the  right  of  the  Cour  du 
Cheval  Blanc  and  was  replaced  by  an  insignificant  building  of 
brick  and  stones  in  the  Louis  XIII  style. 

Under  Louis  XVI  Paris  was  enriched  by  the  building  of  the 
Beaujon  Hospital,  the  £cole  de  Medecine,  the  !ficole  des  Ponts 
et  Chaussees,  the  Hospice  des  Jeunes  Aveugles,  the  Theatre- 
Frangais   and   the   Opera   (Salle   Le   Pelletier).     Luxury   was 

307 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

abandoned  for  utility.  To  this  period  also  belong  many  of  the 
houses  in  the  Faubourg  Saint-Honore.  The  interior  decoration 
changed  and  became  less  rich.  Gildings  in  high  relief  and 
immense  chimney-pieces  now  made  way  for  well-lighted  rooms 
with  slightly  carved  panellings,  furnished  with  light  seats  and 
with  door-heads  enframing  pastoral  pictures  or  portraits,  but 
no  other  pictures,  and  none  of  those  thousand  and  one  objects 
which  encumber  our  drawing-rooms  and  turn  them  into  museums 
or  bric-a-brac  shops,  according  to  the  means  of  the  owner. 

The  place  where  these  aristocratic  surroundings  can  be  best 
studied  is  the  Palace  of  Versailles,  which  from  this  point  of  view 
is  the  finest  museum  in  the  world.  There  we  may  see  the 
evolution  which  took  place  gradually  from  Louis  XIV  through 
the  Regency  to  Louis  XV  and  his  grandson.  There  is  a  great 
difference  between  the  Galerie  des  Glaccs  and  the  rooms  con- 
structed for  Marie-Antoinette  ;  nothing  was  sumptuous  enough 
for  the  great  King,  nothing  sufficiently  intimate — one  might 
almost  say  homely — for  the  chatelaine  of  the  Trianon. 

This  sketch  of  the  artistic  movement  would  be  incomplete 
if  we  said  nothing  of  music. 

Rameau,  who  is  known  by  his  Tlippolyie  et  Aricie,  Les  Indes 
galantes  and  Dardanus,  continued  Cambcrt's  traditions  and 
Music  :  enriched  orchestration.     But  after  Rameau,  who 

Rameau,  died  in  1764,  the  French  School  was  poor,  and 

Gliick,  etc.  all  the  composers  we  need  mention  are  Philidor, 
Mondonville,  Monsigny  and  Dalayrac,  who  originated  the 
comedy  with  ariettas,  and  with  them  two  Belgians  who  are 
also  very  French,  Gossec,  and  Gretry.  The  real  triumphs 
went  to  a  foreigner,  the  "  divine  "  ChevaUer  Gliick,  Marie- 
Antoinette's  protegd.  Her  patronage  was  not  necessary  to 
make  him  exercise  an  influence  on  French  opera,  his  genius 
was  sufficient.  The  reception  which  the  revivals  of  Orphie, 
Alcesie  and  Armide  have  received  of  late  years  prove  Gluck's 
glory  better  than  the  most  splendid  eulogy.  From  Mozart 
to  Berlioz  and  Wagner  all  composers  have  recognized  Gliick 
as  a  master  who  taught  them  the  art  of  lyric  declamation,  and 
subordinated  song  and  rhythm  to  dramatic  expression. 

The  Ralians,  on  the  other  hand,  had  for  some  time  laid  stress 
on  the  melody,  the  bel  canto,  without  always  troubling  to  produce 
308 


THE    ARTS 

any  sympathy  between  the  music  and  the  words.  Heated 
quarrels  divided  the  two  schools.  They  began  in  1752  with  the 
Guerre  des  Bouffons,  so  called  because  the  Italians  were  repre- 
sented by  an  Opera  hujfa  company  lately  arrived  in  Paris.  Then 
the  La  Serva  padrona  of  Pergolesi  competed  with  Mondonville's 
Titon,  a  mediocre  opera  which  owed  a  short-lived  success  to 
the  quarrel.  Jean  Jacques  Rousseau,  who  was  writing  the 
Devin  du  Village,  next  entered  the  lists,  and  published  his 
Lettre  sur  la  Musique  frangaise,  to  which  we  have  already 
referred.* 

The  hostilities  began  again  with  renewed  vigour  fifteen  years 
later  between  Gliick  and  Piccini.  The  two  rivals  this  time 
Gliickists  and  were  worthy  of  each  other ;  they  each  composed 
Piccinists.  an  Iphigenie  en  Tauride,  which  they  produced 

simultaneously  in  Paris.  The  German  composer  gained  the 
victory,  but  there  was  a  continued  strife  between  Gliickists 
and  Piccinists. 

They  hurled  insults  at  each  other  even  in  the  theatre. 
Bachaumont  says  that  during  a  performance  of  Alceste,  at  the 
end  of  the  second  Act,  Mile.  Levasseur  was  interrupted  when  she 
was  singing  : 

II  me  dechire  et  m'arrache  le  cceur.f 

Some  one  cried  out : 

"  Ah,  Mademoiselle,  you  are  tearing  out  my  ears." 

"  Ah,  Monsieur,"  said  a  neighbour,  "  what  a  good  thing,  if 
that  could  give  you  new  ones  !  " 

Beneath  the  notices  of  the  operas  of  the  two  rivals  jests  were 
written.  The  Gliickists  said  of  Piccini's  Roland,  "  The  author 
of  the  poem  lives  in  the  Rue  des  Mauvaises-Paroles  (bad- 
words)  and  the  composer  of  the  music  in  the  Rue  des  Petits- 
Chants  (little  songs)  "  ;  the  Piccinists  answered,  "Monsieur  le 
Chevalier  Gliick,  the  composer  of  Iphigenie,  Orphee,  Alceste  and 
Armide  lives  in  the  Rue  du  Grand-Hurleur  (great  howler)." 

"  Snobs  "  entered  the  lists  ;  it  is  a  consolation  to  know  that 
they  have  always  existed.  People  who  had  no  idea  of  the  art 
of  music  took  sides  blindly.     Among  them  was  the  Chevalier  de 

*  Chapter  XII,  p.  164. 

t  It  tortures  me  and  tears  my  heart  out. 

309 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

Chastcllux  who  said  that  Gliick  was  a  barbarian.  One  day, 
says  Madame  de  GenHs,  he  tried  to  dispute  with  the  Marquis 
de  Clermont,  a  capable  musician. 

"  My  friend,"  said  Clermont,  "  I  am  going  to  sing  an  air  to 
you,  and  if  you  can  beat  the  time  of  it,  I  will  argue  as  much  as 
you  like  on  Gliick  and  Piccini." 

The  Chevalier  departed  ;  he  distrusted  his  car,  "  that  car 
which  was  so  delicate  that  it  could  not  stand  the  uncouth  music 
of  Iphigdnie.^' 

Finally,  we  may  mention  some  airs  which  have  remained 
popular  and  which  exhale  the  delicate  perfume  and  all  the  charm 
of  the  eighteenth  century.  Gretry's  Tandis  que  tout  sommeille 
from  the  Amant  jaloux,  Exaudet's  Menuet,  a  unique  work,  like 
Anvers'  Sonnet,  and  Martini's  Plaisir  d' Amour.  The  last-named 
musician  was  a  German  called  Schwartzendorf,  who,  in  spite 
of  his  Italian  pseudonym,  wrote  exquisite  French  music. 


II 
THE  SCIENCES 

Clairaut,  D'Alembert,  Lalande,  Lacaille,  Reaumur,    the   Mont- 
golfiers,  Buffon,  Tronchin,  Quesnay,  the  Encyclopccdia. 

It  is  difficult  to  define  with  any  accuracy  the  influence  of 
Frenchmen  in  the  sphere  of  science,  for  its  scope  is  essentially 
universal.  Its  various  discoveries  arc  connected  with  one 
another,  and  affect  the  entire  world,  forming  a  continuous 
whole  which  may  be  compared  to  the  ncbulai  of  the  Milky 
Way. 

For  instance,  in  mathematics,  Euler  and  the  Bernouillis  of 
Basle,  Lagrange  of  Turin,  and  Newton  lead  up  us  to  Clairaut 
D'Alembert,  and  d'Alembert ;  Clairaut,  who  published  his 
etc.  Theorie  de  la  figure  de  la  Terre  in  1743,  after  his 

return  from  his  expedition  to  Lapland,  on  which  he  had  been 
accompanied  by  de  Maupcrtuis,  Le  Monnicr  and  Camus,  and 
d'Alembert,  who  at  twenty-six  published  his  Traitd  dynamique. 
It  is  noticeable  that  the  French  endeavoured  to  go  beyond 
pure  theory,  and  attempted  to  give  it  a  general  a])i)lieation. 
810 


THE    SCIENCES 

Thus  Lalande  and  the  Abbe  Lacaille  determined  the  distance 
between  our  planet  and  the  moon,  and  the  result  of  their  calcu- 
lations was  definitively  accepted.  Lacaille  spent  four  years,  from 
1751  to  1755,  at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  at  the  expense  of  the 
State.  His  whole  mission,  including  the  cost  of  his  instruments, 
cost  9144  livres  5  sous.  When  he  went  for  payment  to  the 
Treasury  agents,  these  functionaries  were  greatly  surprised,  not 
being  accustomed  to  deal  with  accounts  which  revealed  such 
honesty.  Money  mattered  nothing  to  the  savant,  who  thought 
himself  sufficiently  rewarded  by  the  success  of  his  lofty  re- 
searches. 

The  study  of  astronomy  advanced  in  England  more  especi- 
ally. Bradley  and  Herschel  made  important  discoveries  for  the 
general  benefit,  such  as  the  circular  movement  of  the  earth  and 
the  insertion  of  Uranus  and  the  satellites  of  Saturn  in  the  chart 
of  the  heavens. 

Again,  it  was  foreigners  who  established  the  great  physical 

laws.     But  Reaumur  in  1730  applied  them  to  the  thermometer, 

and  the   brothers  Montgolfier  to   aerostatics   in 

umur.  1783.     Modern  chemistry  is  indebted  to  Lavoisier, 

who  was  born  in  1743  and  died  on  the  scaffold  in  1794,  and  to 
Berthollet.  The  former  discovered  oxygen,  and  the  latter  ex- 
pounded the  laws  of  chemical  affinities.  Their  progress  necessi- 
tated a  methodical  nomenclature,  which  was  proposed  by  Guyton 
de  Morveau  in  1782,  and  adopted  by  Lavoisier,  Berthollet,  and 
Fourcroy  in  1786.  This  introduced  light  into  chaos  and  caused 
a  rapid  advancement  in  practical  utility  and  numerous  indus- 
trial applications. 

The  best  known  among  the  men  of  science  was  Buffon. 
In  his  masterly  Histoire  naturelle  he  founded  Anthropology  and 
Ethnography,  and  in  his  Epoques  de  la  nature  he 
anticipated  Cuvier's  system  in  many  respects. 
The  Jussieus,  Lacepede  and  Daubenton  were  his  collaborators. 
Buffon  is  an  admirable  writer  and  he  even  had  time  to  give  the 
secret  of  his  talent.  His  Discours  sur  le  style  is  a  classic  and  a 
literary  achievement  of  the  highest  merit.  Before  him  Fontenelle 
had  already  expounded  science  to  the  ignorant,  but  not  quite  so 
ably. 

Medicine  was  still  backward  and  decidedly  empirical  with 

311 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

its  eternal  bleedings,  ridiculed  by  Beaumarchais  no  less 
sharply  than  by  Moliere.  An  Englishman,  Jenner,  introduced 
vaccination,  and  a  Genevan,  Tronchin,  decided  to  become  a 
hygienist  rather  than  a  dispenser  of  remedies.  Once  when 
summoned  to  the  Dauphiness,  Marie-Josephe  of  Saxony,  he 
had  breakfast  with  the  princess  and  found  that  she  ate  too  fast. 
La  Breuille,  her  physician-in-ordinary,  intervened,  and  said  that 
the  meal  usually  took  seven  minutes. 

"  It  must  be  fifteen,"  replied  Tronchin. 

The  Dauphine  declared  that  she  was  accustomed  to  eat  fast 
and  could  not  do  otherwise. 

"  You  must  learn,  Madame,  for  good  digestion  depends 
on  it." 

Society  was  not  accustomed  to  such  authoritative  statements, 
or  to  such  simple  precepts,  which  seemed  to  show  so  little 
Tronchin  learning.     Consequently  Tronchin  had  to  defend 

himself  against  his  confreres  in  Paris.  He  caused 
a  revolution  and  excited  much  jealousy.  The  apothecaries  were 
forced  to  lay  down  their  arms.  The  Genevan  met  with  great 
success,  and  every  one  wanted  to  consult  him.  The  ^sculaps 
of  the  period  laughed  when  Tronchin  placed  the  Due  de  Gramont 
on  a  diet  of  cold  meat,  and  ordered  Monsieur  de  Puysieulx  to  rub 
himself  with  pomade,  explaining  that  his  internal  condition  was 
sound,  but  that  his  skin,  which  he  termed  the  "  pie-crust,"  was 
too  dry,  and  that  this  dryness  prevented  perspiration.  They 
laughed  again  when  the  foreign  doctor  recommended  exercise 
for  women,  were  it  only  to  sweep  out  their  own  rooms.  But  the 
sick  were  all  the  better  for  following  his  wise  prescriptions,  and 
the  mockers  were  made  to  look  foolish. 

A  new  science — Political  Economy — was  created  in  the 
eighteenth  century  ;  it  was  based  on  material  phenomena  and 
Quesnay  *^^  social  interests  dependent  on  them  ;  it  studied 

the  productive  forces  of  nature  and  reckoned  with 
the  needs  and  aspirations  of  man.  Madame  de  Pompadour's 
doctor,  Quesnay,  was  the  real  pioneer  of  Political  Economy, 
and  his  aims  are  summed  up  in  Turgot's  motto  :  "  Freedom  of 
labour  and  barter." 

D'Alembert  and  Diderot  conceived  the  idea  of  combining 
scientific  ideas  and  all  that  was  known  of  the  various  branches 
312 


THE    SCIENCES 

of  knowledge  in  an  historical  work.  Such  was  the  origin  of  the 
EncyclopMie  or  Dictionnaire  raisonne  des  sciences,  des  arts  et  des 
The  Encyclo-  mHiers,  the  great  Palladium  of  the  century.  The 
psedia.  first  volume  appeared   in  1751,  and   the   seven- 

teenth in  1765.  Those  who  are  wrongly  termed  philosophers 
and  should  be  called  the  secret  enemies  of  metaphysics,  made 
use  of  this  vast  store  of  knowledge  to  deny  everything  that  was 
not  founded  on  reason  alone,  forgetting  that  though  certain 
facts  may  be  inexplicable,  they  are  none  the  less  worthy  to  be 
considered  and  discussed.  A  leader  of  modern  thought  has  made 
the  excellent  criticism  that  "  the  Encyclopaedists  knew  every- 
thing except  the  indescribable  something.  .  .  .  Their  science 
distinguishes  things  as  snow  distinguishes  objects  ;  it  isolates 
and  freezes  them.  ..." 

Supernatural  belief,  and  at  the  same  time  traditions,  were 
overthrown,  and  scepticism  became  the  fashion.  The  light 
which  these  new  men  diffused  for  the  future  enlightened  a 
merely  rationalistic  world  ;  the  benefits  of  their  physical  dis- 
coveries compensated  humanity  to  a  certain  extent,  but  they 
forgot  that  the  soul  as  well  as  the  mind  needs  comfort  and 
support.  Their  work  was  not  completely  successful;  it  was 
lacking  in  the  immortal  flame  of  aspiration  towards  a  future 
life.  To  deny  a  thing  does  not  destroy  it.  Neither  a  nation 
nor  a  morality  can  be  killed,  in  spite  of  the  faults  and  errors 
of  their  representatives. 

D'Alembert  and  Diderot  attracted  a  Pleiad  of  famous  colla- 
borators :  Montesquieu,  Rousseau,  Buffon,  Turgot,  and  Condillac, 
each  in  his  own  department  dealt  with  purely  scientific  questions 
from  an  uncontroversial  standpoint.  We  may  cite  Montesquieu's 
article  on  taste,  Rosseau's  dissertation  on  music,  or  Turgot's 
essays  on  social  and  administrative  economy.  After  them 
Voltaire  and  Holbach  were  more  aggressive,  for  they  took  the 
bull  by  the  horns  without  always  raising  their  masks  ;  here  the 
Encyclopedie  becomes  an  arena  wherein  the  champions,  appa- 
rently ashamed  of  the  blows  they  struck,  used  the  weapon  of 
anonymity.  In  this  they  were  only  half  French,  for  they  had 
no  courage. 

Voltaire  was  the  cleverest  advertiser  of  his  times ;  no  one 
knew  better  than  he  did  how  to  secure  the  success  of  a  work, 

313 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

especially  if  it  were  his  own.  There  is  a  very  witty  passage 
of  his  ill  wliich  he  praises  the  usefulness  of  the  Encycloyidie, 
pointing  out  carefully  all  the  good  points  and  cleverly  glossing 
over  the  bad  ones.  Under  Louis  XV  at  a  little  supper  a 
discussion  arose  on  ignorance. 

''  It  is  funny,"  said  the  Due  de  Nivernais,  "  that  we  amuse 
ourselves  daily  killing  partridges  in  the  Park  of  Versailles  and 
sometimes  killing  men  or  being  killed  on  the  frontier,  without 
knowing  exactly  what  it  is  that  kills." 

"  Alas  !  it  is  the  same  with  everything  in  the  world," 
answered  Madame  de  Pompadour.  "  I  do  not  know  what  the 
rouge  which  I  put  on  my  cheeks  is  composed  of,  and  I  should  be 
much  embarrassed  if  some  one  asked  me  how  the  silk  stockings 
which  I  am  wearing  are  made." 

"  It  is  a  pity,"  said  the  Due  de  la  Valliere,  "  that  his  Majesty 
has  confiscated  our  Dictionnaire  EncyclopMique,  which  cost  us 
each  a  hundred  pistoles.  We  should  soon  have  found  in  it 
the  key  to  everything." 

The  King  sent  for  the  seventeen  volumes  and  they  learnt 
from  them  all  they  had  wished  to  know. 

"  Ah  !  what  a  splendid  book  !  "  cried  the  Marquise,  "  Sire, 
did  you  confiscate  this  depository  of  all  useful  things  so  as  to  be 
its  sole  possessor  and  the  only  savant  in  your  kingdom  ?  " 

"  Really,"  answered  Louis  XV,  "  I  do  not  know  why  I  was 
told  so  much  against  this  book." 

"Well!  Do  not  you  see,  Sire,"  answered  the  Due  de 
Nivernais,  "  it  is  because  it  is  excellent  ?  People  never  object 
to  the  mediocre  and  dull  in  anything.  If  women  try  to  make 
a  newcomer  look  ridiculous,  it  is  because  she  is  prettier  than 
they." 

"  Sire,"  went  on  the  Comte  de  Coigny,  "  you  are  very  happy 
that  men  have  been  found  in  your  reign  who  knov/  all  the  arts 
and  can  transmit  them  to  posterity.  Everything  is  here  ;  from 
the  way  a  pin  is  made  to  how  to  cast  and  point  a  cannon,  from 
the  smallest  to  the  greatest  things.  Thank  God  that  your 
kingdom  is  the  birthplace  of  those  who  have  served  the  entire 
universe.  The  other  nations  must  buy  the  Encyclopedie  or 
imitate  it.  Take  everything  I  have,  but  give  me  back  my 
Encyclo])edie.''^ 
314 


LITERATURE 

"All  the  same,"  said  the  King,  "they  say  that  there  are 
many  faults  in  this  necessary  and  admirable  work." 

"  Sire,"  said  the  Comtc  de  Coigny,  "there  were  two  badly 
made  ragouts  at  your  supper.  We  did  not  eat  them,  and  yet 
we  have  had  plenty.  Would  you  have  liked  the  whole  supper 
to  have  been  thrown  out  of  the  window  because  of  those  two 
ragouts  ?  " 

This  scene  gives  a  sparkling  summary  of  a  royal  conversation. 
As  for  the  comparison  at  the  end,  it  was  too  generous.  Except 
for  about  fifty  articles  the  famous  Dictionnaire  raisonne  is  of 
very  little  interest.  Besides  the  articles  which  are  out  of  date, 
there  are  many  more  than  two  "  badly  made  "  articles  in  the 
seventeen  volumes.  For  the  rest,  Voltaire  was  quite  correct 
when  he  said  that  the  Encyclopedie  was  a  harlequin's  coat,  with 
a  great  many  pieces  of  good  material,  but  also  a  great  quantity 
of  rags. 

Ill 
LITERATURE 

Voltaire,  Andre  Chenier,  Destouehes,  Piron,  Gresset,  Marivaux, 
Beaumarehais,  Montesquieu,  Jean  Jacques  Rousseau. 

The  literature  of  the  eighteenth  century  is  the  mirror  of 
this  positive,  seditious  period,  in  which  ideas  were  everything 
and  their  expression  very  little.  The  traditions  of  beautiful 
style  remained,  but  the  heritage  was  not  always  respected. 

Such    philosophical    times   do   not   breed   poets,   and   the 
springs  of  Hippocrene  were  dry.     The  age  had  the  poets  that  it 
.  deserved.     Voltaire,    whose    name    immediately 

suggests  itself  when  any  manifestation  of  brilliance 
is  under  discussion,  has  left  epistles,  stanzas,  and  short  poems, 
and  even  an  epic  poem  and  a  shameful  burlesque  ;  but  practi- 
cally his  one  poetic  talent  lay  in  correct  rhyming  and  scansion. 
His  malice  and  ingenuity  appear  in  some  of  his  verses  and  give 
them  a  certain  attraction  ;  he  knew  how  to  write  a  madrigal, 
but  he  flattered  every  one  and  knocked  at  all  doors  at  the  same 
time,  with  the  result  that  his  able  rhetoric  is  quite  lacking  in 
sincerity.     He  flattered  in  turn  the  Regent,  the  young  King, 

315 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

Frederick  II,  the  Queen,  the  Dauphincs,  the  favourites,  from 
Miulanie  dc  Prie  to  Madame  du  Barry,  a  strange  medley  of 
contradictory  eulogies — and  of  substantial  benefits. 
Voltaire  >\Tote  to  the  King  of  Prussia  : 

O  philosophe  roi,  que  ma  carriere  est  belle  ! 

J'irai  do  Sans-Souci,  par  des  chemins  de  flcurs, 

Aux  champs  elysiens  purler  h  Marc-Aurele 

Du  plus  grand  de  ses  successeurs. 

A  Salluste  jaloux  je  lirai  votre  histoire. 

A  Lycurgue  vos  lois,  ii  Virgile  vos  vers  : 

Je  surprendrai  les  morts  ;  ils  ne  pourront  me  croire  ; 

Nul  d'eux  n'a  rassembl^  tant  de  talents  divers.* 

He  sent  the  same  exaggerated  compliments  to  Louis  XV, 
George  I,  Maria  Theresa,  Catherine  II,  and  Gustavus  III. 

But  poetry  was  not  Voltaire's  forte  ;  prose  was  necessary 
to  his  lucid  mind.  ^t«-^^<  ♦^■*'' 

The  other  poets  of  the  period  ai'e  forgotten.  No  one  reads 
La  Motte-Houdard,  Thomas,  licniis,  Saint-Lambert,  Rouehcr, 
Lebrun,  Malfilatre,  or  Lefranc  de  Pompignan  now.  Some,  like 
Jean  Baptiste  Rousseau,  Gilbert,  Gresset,  and  Delille,  still  have 
a  place  in  anthologies,  but  their  verses  are  like  dried  flowers  in  a 
collection.  Others,  such  as  Parny,  Gentil-Bernard,  Dorat, 
and  Piron,  are  excluded  altogether ;  their  licentious  verses  have 
been  relegated  to  the  back  of  the  bookshelf,  safe  from  youthful 
Andr6  Ch6nier.  ^"^'^o'^^ty.  One  true  poet  only,  Andr6  Ch^nier, 
was  living  at  the  end  of  the  century.  He  was 
born  at  Constantinople.  His  mother  was  Greek  and  his 
father  French,  and  he  seemed  predestined  to  say  : 

Sur  des  pensers  nouveaux  faites  des  vers  antiques.! 

He  defended  the  French  language,  which  had  been  stigmatized 
by  versifiers  who  thought  to  excuse  themselves  by  complaining 
of  the  instrument  they  did  not  know  how  to  use  : 

♦  O  philosopher  King,  how  fair  is  my  prospect !  I  shall  go  from  Sans 
Souci  by  a  flowery  path  to  the  Elysian  fields  to  speak  to  Marctis  Aurelius 
of  the  greatest  of  his  successors.  To  jealous  Sallust  I  shall  read  your 
history,  to  Lycurgus  your  laws,  and  to  Virgil  your  verses.  I  shall  surprise 
the  dead  ;  they  will  not  be  able  to  believe  me  ;  none  of  them  have 
combined  so  many  different  talents. 

t  Antique  verses  on  new  thoughts. 
31G 


LITERATURE 

n  n'est  sot  traducteur,  de  sa  richesse  enfle, 

Sot  auteur  d'un  poeme  ou  d'un  discours  siffle  .  .  . 

Qui  ne  vous  avertisse,  en  sa  ficre  preface, 

Que  si  son  style  epais  vous  fatigue  d'abord  .  .  . 

Si  son  vers  est  gen^,  sans  feu,  sans  harmonie, 

II  n'en  est  point  coupable  :   il  n'est  pas  sans  genie  ; 

II  a  tons  les  talents  qui  font  les  grands  succes  ; 

Mais  enfin,  malgre  lui,  ce  langagc  fran9ais, 

Si  faible  en  ses  couleurs,  si  froid  et  si  timide, 

L'a  contraint  d'etre  lourd,  gauche,  plat,  insipide.* 

Ch^nier  had  that  "  unpremeditated  expression  "  which  "  has 
its  birth  with  the  inspiration,"  and  is  inseparable  from  it.  He 
could  always  find  the  rhythm,  the  imagery,  and  the  form  which 
suited  his  ideas  ;  all  these  came  to  him  at  once  and  thus  he  was 
a  true  poet.  The  secret  had  been  lost  for  a  hundred  years  and 
Chenier  rediscovered  it.  He  makes  the  gentle  kingfishers  weep 
over  Myrto,  the  young  Tarentine,  and  over  the  young  captive 
whom  he  endows  with  an  emotion  long  unknown.  Harmony  had 
been  forgotten,  when  all  at  once  sounds  like  these  were  heard  : 

Je  ne  suis  qu'au  printemps,  je  veux  voir  la  moisson  ; 
Et  comme  le  soleil,  de  saison  en  saison 

Je  veux  achever  mon  annee. 
Brillante  sur  ma  tige  et  I'honneur  du  jardin, 
Je  n'ai  vu  luire  encor  que  les  feux  du  matin, 

Je  veux  achever  ma  journee.f 

He  made  the  blind  poet,  the  divine  Homer,  live  again  in  an 
atmosphere  of  beauty  ;  he  repeopled  the  poetic  desert  with  his 
visions  of  Greece  and  his  noble  enthusiasm  ;  he  reawakened  the 
soul  of  France  with  the  magic  of  his  melodious  words.     He  had 

*  Every  foolish  translator  puffed  up  with  his  wealth,  every  author 
of  a  poem  or  of  a  discourse  which  has  been  hissed  .  .  .  tells  you,  in  his 
pompous  preface  that  if  his  heavy  style  tires  you  at  first,  ...  if  his 
verses  are  awkward,  without  fire  and  without  harmony,  he  is  not  to 
blame  :  he  is  not  without  genius  ;  he  has  all  the  talents  necessary  for  a 
great  success.  But  in  spite  of  himself,  this  French  language,  so  weak  in 
colour,  so  cold  and  so  timid,  has  forced  him  to  be  ponderous,  clumsy, 
dull,  and  insipid. 

t  I  have  only  seen  the  spring,  and  I  wish  to  behold  the  harvest :  like 
the  sun  from  season  to  season  I  wish  to  finish  my  year.  Shining  on  my 
stalk,  the  honour  of  the  garden,  I  have  seen  as  yet  only  the  morning 
fires  ;  I  wish  to  finish  my  day. 

317 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

faults,  it  is  true,  his  verses  are  sometimes  violent  and  rhetorical, 
and  he  perhaps  relied  too  much  on  myths.  But,  though  he 
sometimes  indulged  too  freely  in  periphrase,  he  made  prosody 
more  flexible  and  freed  it  from  restraint. 

Andr6  Chenicr  died  on  the  scaffold  on  the  7th  Thermidor, 
at  thirty  years  of  age,  when  Fouquicr-Tinville  had  ceased  to 
keep  count  of  his  innocent  victims.  The  poet  Roucher  was  on 
the  same  cart  with  him,  and  the  two  friends  exchanged  this 
conversation  : 

"You,"  said  Chenier,  "the  most  irreproachable  of  our 
citizens  !  A  father  !  an  adored  husband  !  They  are  sacrificing 
you  !  " 

"  You,"  answered  Roucher,  "  you,  virtuous  young  man  ! 
They  are  leading  you  to  death  glowing  with  genius  and  hope  !  " 

"  I  have  done  nothing  for  posterity,"  answered  Ch6nier, 
and  then  he  struck  his  forehead  and  was  heard  to  add  :  ''''All 
the  same,  I  had  something  there.^^  They  both  talked  of  poetry 
until  the  last  moment,  and  recited  a  scene  of  Andromaque, 
borrowing  the  words  of  Orestes  and  Pylades  as  if  to  take  courage 
under  the  protection  of  Racine  : 

Oui,  puisque  je  retrouve  un  ami  si  fidele  .  ,  .* 

The  dramatists  endeavoured  to  maintain  the  prestige  of 
tragedy,  and  poured  forth  their  alexandrines.  But  their  dramas, 
though  often  well  designed,  had  more  regard  for 
the  tastes  of  the  public,  for  whom  they  had  been 
composed,  than  for  art ;  however,  they  enriched  their  authors 
and  the  booksellers,  and  gave  excellent  opportunities  to  ex- 
cellent actors.  With  the  exception  of  Voltaire's  Zaire,  an 
imitation  of  Shakespeare,  which  was  the  masterpiece  of  the 
Louis  XV  style,  and  his  Mcrope,  nothing  of  this  vast  repertory 
has  survived.  Who  would  think  of  reviving  Crebillon's  tragedies 
with  their  improbable  scenes  founded  on  incognitos,  or  those 
of  Lemierre,  La  Harpe,  Bclloy,  who  A\Totc  Le  Siege  de  Calais, 
or  Saurin  ?  Ducis  with  his  feeble  adaptations  of  Shakespeare 
was  well  intentioned,  but  artless  and  ridiculous. 

Comedy  in  verse  was  more  honourably  upheld  ;  not  that  any 

*  Yes,  as  I  find  again  so  faithful  a  friend  .  .  . 
318 


LITERATURE 

pleasure  can  be  derived  from  glancing  at  the  works  of  Destouches. 
It  is  better  to  go  back  to  the  source  from  which  he  draws  his 
material,  La  Bruyere.  Having  borrowed  his  character,  such 
as  the  Ungrateful,  the  Irresolute,  the  Calumniator,  or  the  Boaster 
from  the  latter,  he  dramatized  it  as  well  as  he  could  with  a 
setting  of  supernumaries  and  puppets.  Let  us  give  Destouches 
the  credit  due  to  him  for  the  following  line,  which  is  so 
often  attributed  to  Boileau  : 

La  critique  est  aisee,  et  I'art  est  difficile.* 

Destouches  had  the  further  distinction  of  being  preferred  to 
Moliere  by  Lessing  in  his  Hamhurgische  Dramaturgie. 

Satirical  comedies,  such  as  Piron's  Metromanie  and  Cresset's 
Mediant,  raised  the  standard  of  the  theatre.     Piron  drew  the 
character  of  a  poet  who  could  see  nothing  but 
°"^    ^'  poetry  in  everything,  very  wittily.     His  metro- 

maniac  pursued  the  passers-by  with  his  verses,  and  was  always 
dreaming  abstractedly  ;  he  did  not  live  in  the  same  planet  as 
mankind.  The  plot  of  this  comedy  is  very  complex,  but  it 
shows  its  superiority  in  its  natural  and  expressive  style.  The 
famous  quotation  "  J'ai  ri,  et  me  voila  desarme  "  f  is  from 
Metromanie.  Cresset,  the  author  of  Vert-Vert,  tried  his  hand 
at  comedy  and  had  some  success.     His  Mechant  says  : 

Les  sots  sont  ici-bas  pour  nos  menus  plaisirs,  X 

and  the  whole  play  is  merely  a  development  of  this  clever  line. 
Cleon  takes  a  malicious  pleasure  not  only  in  laughing  at 
exhibitions  of  foolishness,  but  in  provoking  them.  A  young 
coxcomb  thinks  it  fine  to  follow  his  example  and  there  is  an 
extremely  funny  dialogue  between  the  Mechant  and  his  pupil. 
The  five  acts  are  filled  with  familiar  and  much-quoted  verses  : 

L'esprit  qu'on  veut  avoir  gate  celui  qu'on  a  .  .  .§ 
L'aigle  d'une  maison  n'est  qu'un  sot  dans  une  autre.  .  .  .|| 
Elle  a  d'assez  beaux  yeux  pour  des  yeux  de  province.il 

*  Criticism  is  easy  and  art  is  difficult. 

t  I  laughed  and  so  I  was  disarmed. 

t  Fools  are  here  below  for  our  distraction. 

§  The  wit  one  wishes  to  have  spoils  that  which  one  has. 

II  The  eagle  of  one  house  is  but  a  fool  in  another. 

if  Her  eyes  are  fairly  beautiful  for  provincial  eyes. 

319 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

There  were  no  real  successors  to  Moli^re  and  Rcgnard. 
Piron  and  Gresset,  however,  were  able  to  amuse  their  contem- 
poraries, and  they  created  some  types  which  amuse  us  also. 

But  two  dramatists,  Marivaux  and  Beaumarchais,  struck 
an  entirely  new  note  and  seem  to  sum  up  all  the  wit  of  the 
eighteenth  century  as  perfectly  as  Watteau  and  La  Tour. 

There  were  some  attempts  at  sentimental  comedies  and 
popular  dramas.  La  Chauss6e  and  Diderot  were  in  this  respect 
the  somewhat  tedious  and  solemn  ancestors  of  melodrama.  They 
outlined  a  genre  which  was  to  develop  later  with  a  liberal  admix- 
ture of  laughter  and  tears.  But  Marivaux  and  Beaumarchais 
left  a  definitive  work  with  str(5^gly  marked  individuality  ;  they 
seem  to  have  had  no  masters  and  to  have  formed  no  pupils.  It 
is  difficult  to  imitate  the  charming  subtlety  of  the  former  and 
the  audacious  impertinence  of  the  latter.  The  mark  of  the 
creative  writer  is  that  he  cannot  be  imitated. 

The  author  of  Fausses  Confidences  was  so  original  that  a 
word  had  to  be  coined  to  describe  his  talent  and  wit.     This 

.  word  is  marivaudagc,  and  by  it  his  comedies  may 

be  recognized,  as  all  his  actors  marivaudent,  that 
is  to  say,  speak  with  an  ease,  grace,  and  irony  that  can  scarcely 
be  met  with  elsewhere.  They  are  all  akin,  the  Luciles  and 
Dorantes,  as  well  as  the  Liscttc  and  Lubins,  the  countesses  and 
coxcombs,  as  well  as  the  maids  and  valets.  This  may  be  a  fault 
from  the  standpoint  of  dramatic  truth,  but  he  takes  his  reader 
into  a  romantic  dream,  into  a  rose  and  blue  world,  and  we  must 
become  familiar  with  the  exceptional  beings  who  people  this 
realm  of  poetry.  A  great  critic,  Paul  de  Saint- Victor,  has  so 
well  expressed  the  enchantment  produced  by  Marivaux's  plays, 
that  we  cannot  refrain  from  quoting  him.  He  tells  a  pretty 
story  about  them  :  "  A  fairy  entered,  at  midnight,  the  great 
hall  of  an  old  castle  hung  with  high  warp  tapestries.  The  shep- 
herds of  the  AstrSe  and  the  nymphs  of  the  Aminte  were  playing 
their  flutes  or  drawing  their  bows,  enthroned  on  clouds  or  con- 
versing in  green  arbours  all  along  walls  transformed  into  idyllic 
gardens.  But  the  autumn  of  centuries  had  passed  over  this 
spring  of  colour,  the  sky  was  getting  yellow,  and  the  figures 
themselves  had  begun  to  fade.  .  .  .  All  these  frail  people  were 
falling  away,  stitch  by  stitch,  showing  the  inner  void.  A  few 
320 


LITERATURE 

days  more  and  their  fictitious  existence  would  be  over.  The 
fairy  touched  this  fading  phantasmagoria  with  her  wand  and 
suddenly  a  magic  life  animated  it.  .  .  .  That  is  the  miracle 
which  occurs  at  each  revival  of  Marivaux  comedies,  which  are 
now  as  faded  as  ancient  tapestry.  This  society  of  which  he  has 
recorded  the  fleeting  brilliance  in  a  silver  and  silken  style  is  a 
thing  of  the  past.  The  characters  are  as  strange  to  us  as  the 
inhabitants  of  the  planet  Venus.  .  .  .  Yet  whenever  this 
Eldorado  is  staged  the  charm  works  and  the  enchantment  is 
complete.  .  .  .  We  once  more  fall  in  love  with  this  exquisite 
world,  these  delicate  metaphysics,  and  the  gentle  maids  whose 
subtle  loves  make  one  think  of  the  marriage  of  flowers  and  the 
interchange  of  their  perfumes." 

One  of  the  dialogues  will  give  a  better  idea  of  marivaudage 
than  any  commentary.  The  following  takes  place  between 
Lepine,  the  Marquis'  valet,  and  Lisette,  the  Comtesse's  maid, 
who  exchange  gallant  remarks  : 

Lisette.  I  am  busy,  and  I  shall  leave  you. 

Lepine.  Gently,  Mademoiselle,  wait  a  minute.  I  think  it 
time  to  tell  you  of  a  little  accident  that  is  happening  to  me. 

Lisette.  Well  ? 

Lepine.  As  a  man  of  honour,  I  had  not  realized  your 
charms,     I  was  not  acquainted  with  your  appearance. 

Lisette.  What  does  that  matter  ?  I  can  say  the  same 
about  you  :   I  have  only  just  got  to  know  yours. 

Lepine.  The  lady  thought  that  we  loved  each  other. 

Lisette.  Well,  she  thought  wrong. 

Lepine.  Wait :  this  is  the  accident.  Her  words  made  my 
eyes  rest  on  you  more  attentively  than  usual.  ...  It  is  certain 
that  my  master  has  very  tender  feelings  for  your  mistress. 
This  very  day  he  told  me  that  he  contemplated  telling  you  of 
his  sentiments. 

Lisette.  Just  as  he  likes.  The  answer  that  I  shall  have 
the  honour  of  communicating  to  him  will  be  short. 

Lepine.  Let  us  note,  by  the  way,  that  the  Comtesse  likes 
the  society  of  my  master  and  that  it  delights  her  to  see  him. 
You  will  say  that  our  people  are  strange  creatures  and  I  agree 
with  you.  The  Marquis,  who  is  a  simple  man  and  not  at  all 
daring  in  his  speech,  will  never  venture  to  make  a  declaration, 

X  321 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

and  the  Comtcsse  is  terrified  of  declarations.  In  this  conjuncture 
I  consider  we  had  better  encourage  these  two.  What  will 
happen  ?  They  will  love  each  other  honestly  and  simj)ly,  and 
they  will  marry  in  the  same  way.  What  will  follow  ?  That 
when  you  see  nie  your  comrade  you  will  make  me  your  husband, 
from  the  sweet  habit  of  seeing  me.  Well  then  !  speak  !  arc 
you  willing  ? 

If  the  Comtcsse  and  Lisette  had  said  "  Yes  "  immediately, 
the  comedy  would  have  been  finished  too  soon,  and  there  would 
have  been  no  marivaudage.  But  our  author  has  to  follow  a 
labyrinth  before  arriving  at  a  foregone  conclusion,  and  that 
is  the  secret  of  his  subtle  art  and  his  sentimentality.  His 
conversations,  in  which  there  is  never  a  raising  of  voices,  never 
anything  dull,  are  a  pleasure  to  readers  even  more  perhaps 
than  to  spectators — a  pleasure  similar  to  that  which  we  feel 
when  looking  at  a  scene  by  Watteau.  He  revives  the  age  of 
elegance  and  refinement. 

Beaumarchais'  comedies  are  so  intimately  connected  with 
the  social  movement  of  the  century  that  it  has  already  been 
necessary  to  refer  to  them  in  connection  with  the  Mariagc  de 
Figaro,  which  created  such  a  sensation  in  1781.  It  announced 
the  new  era  in  clarion  notes. 

Beaumarchais  had  given  evidence  of  his  talent  before  this 
brilliant  satire.  On  February  23,  1775,  the  Barbicr  de  Seville 
was  produced,  in  which  Figaro,  created  to  utter 
Beaumarchais.  ^.j^yg^j^.  aphorisms,  prepared  the  i)ublic  for  the 
audacities  to  come.  He  begins  with  such  dicta  as  :  "  The  great 
do  us  sufficient  good  when  they  do  us  no  harm,"  and  "  Consider- 
ing the  virtues  required  of  a  domestic,  docs  your  Excellency 
know  many  masters  who  are  fit  to  be  servants  ?  "  As  he  began, 
so  he  continued.  In  the  Manage  he  put  away  all  restraint  and 
openly  pleaded  the  cause  of  the  oppressed.  "  Because  you  arc  a 
great  noble  you  believe  yourself  to  be  a  great  genius  !  Nobility, 
fortune,  rank,  place,  all  these  make  men  proud  !  What  have 
you  done  for  all  these  fine  things  ?  You  have  done  nothing 
but  give  yourself  the  trouble  of  being  born  :  in  other  respects 
you  are  quite  an  ordinary  individual !  While  I,  who  am  lost 
in  the  crowd  of  the  obscure,  have  had  to  display  more  science 
and  more  caleulalion  merely  to  exist  than  have  been  expended 
322 


LITERATURE 

for  the  last  hundred  years  in  the  government  of  all  the  Spains  !  " 
Figaro's  description  of  his  existence  in  the  famous  monologue 
in  the  fifth  act  ends  with  an  extremely  pessimistic  confession  : 
"  Now  master,  now  servant,  as  it  pleases  fortune,  made  ambitious 
by  vanity  and  laborious  by  necessity,  but  delighting  in  idleness  ! 
I  have  seen  everything,  done  everything,  worn  out  everything. 
Then  my  illusions  were  shattered  and  I  am  disabused  .  .  . 
Disabused  !  "  We  can  see  what  this  Folic  journee  means,  how 
its  comic  humour  and  reckless  wit  will  speedily  lead  to  the 
abandonment  of  principles.  These  two  comedies,  though  one  is 
scarcely  more  than  a  timid  preface  to  the  other,  are  the  whole 
of  Beaumarchais.  The  rest  of  his  plays  are  unimportant ; 
neither  his  first  two  productions,  Eugenie  published  in  17C7  and 
Les  Deux  Amis  published  in  1770,  nor  his  last  comedy,  La  Mere 
Coupable,  a  sequel  to  the  Mariage  de  Figaro,  can  be  compared 
with  the  masterpieces  which  still  charm  us,  though  we  have 
forgotten  the  moment  at  which  they  were  written,  and  the 
influence  they  had  on  the  already  doomed  reign  of  the  unhappy 
Louis  XVI. 

Beaumarchais  broadened  the  theatrical  horizon.     He  made  a 
rostrum  of  the  stage.     The  prose-writers,  moralists,  philosophers 
.  or  historians  who  are  next  to  be  dealt  with  show 

where  the  dramatist  found  his  inspiration  ;  he 
was  the  brilliant  mouthpiece  of  the  ideas  of  Montesquieu, 
Voltaire,  and  Jean  Jacques  Rousseau,  to  quote  only  the  great 
leaders.  Charles  le  Secondat,  Baron  de  la  Brede  et  de  Montesquieu 
published  his  Lettres  Persanes  in  1721  in  the  middle  of  the 
Regency.  This  nobleman,  who  was  President  of  the  Bordeaux 
Parliament,  made  his  first  appearance  with  a  book  which  was 
apparently  light,  but  which,  nevertheless,  foreshadowed  the 
author  of  the  Esprit  des  Lois.  His  Persian  who  was  so  anxious 
to  know  Paris  was  a  shrewd  observer,  a  witty  satirist,  and  had 
read  La  Bruy^re.  He  made  jokes,  but  he  touched  on  grave 
social,  political,  and  religious  questions.  In  his  Considerations 
sur  la  grandeur  et  la  decadence  des  Romains  and  the  Esprit  des 
Lois  which  followed  it,  serious  though  these  works  are,  we  are 
sometimes  astonished  to  find  reminiscences  of  Usbeck's  vein  of 
humour.  Madame  du  DefTand  called  the  Esprit  des  Lois 
"  witticisms  on  the  laws  "  {de  Vesprit  sur  les  lois)  and  Voltaire 

323 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

asked  ii'  it  were  seemly  "  to  make  jokes  in  a  work  on  jnris- 
prudence." 

But  these  eehoes  of  the  style  of  the  Lciircs  Pcrsancs  in  no 
way  detract  from  the  value  of  these  books,  and  Montesquieu's 
exposition  of  the  philosophy  of  modern  history.  "  It  is  not 
Portune  which  governs  the  world,"  he  says.  "  There  are  general 
causes  either  moral  or  physical  which  raise,  maintain,  or  over- 
throw each  monarchy.  All  the  incidents  arc  in  subjection 
to  these  causes.  If  the  loss  of  a  battle,  that  is  to  say,  a  particular 
cause,  has  destroyed  a  State,  there  must  have  been  a  general 
cause  which  made  it  possible  for  this  State  to  perish  as  the 
result  of  a  single  battle.  In  short  the  general  tendencies 
bring  about  all  the  particular  incidents."  Montesquieu  upset 
Bossuet's  "  divine  "  theory  and  explained  how  laws  arc  formed 
under  the  influence  of  government,  climate,  religion,  and 
custom.  His  style  gave  juris})rudence  a  place  in  literature, 
just  as  the  brilliant  writer  Bulfon  gave  Natural  History  a  claim 
to  rank  as  such. 

Voltaire,  at  the  age  of  twenty-five,  in  1719  had  his  CEdipe 
produced,  and  until  his  death  in  1778  he  wrote  indefatigably 
Voltaire's  for  the   public   and  his   friends.     His   letters   in 

Prose.  many  volumes  form  nearly  a  third  of  his  works, 

and  are  attractive  reading.  In  these  he  faithfully  portrays 
himself  with  this  enthusiasms,  weaknesses,  love  of  his  neighbour 
and  himself,  his  temperament,  and  his  infirmities.  They  all 
have  intense  vitality  ;  the  language  is  marvellous,  limpid,  and 
clear  ;  the  tone  by  turns  tender,  violent,  or  witty.  They  are 
the  psychological  index  of  the  most  active  existence  the  world 
has  ever  seen.  Voltaire  the  man  did  not  sufiicicntly  resemble 
Voltaire  the  writer  ;  his  character  was  mediocre.  Under  the 
cloak  of  an  apostle  of  noble  and  generous  ideas,  the  dress  of  the 
courtier  is  always  to  be  seen.  Across  that  face  of  a  superb 
classic  ugliness  immortalized  by  Houdon,  flits  a  disconcerting 
ironical  smile.  It  is  indeed  the  face  of  a  man  who  has  scoffed 
at  holy  things.  And  yet  Voltaire  was  a  king.  At  the  end  of 
his  life  he  reigned  supreme  over  men's  minds,  and  all  the  in- 
tdlcetuais  felt  this  influence  which  was  i)rolonged  through  so 
many  generations. 

A  quarrel  may  be  said  to  have  decided  Voltaire's  vocation. 
824 


LITERATURE 

He  was  beaten  by  the  Chevalier  de  Rohan's  servants,  put  in 
the  Bastille,  and  only  released  after  a  fortnight  on  condition  that 
Voltaire  in  he  would  go  to  England  (May  2,  1726),  whence 
England.  he    brought     back     his    Lettres     Philosophiques, 

which  were  published  in  1734.  These  letters  created  a  great 
stir  ;  they  popularized  English  ideas  and  caused  more  to  be 
known  about  Bacon,  Locke,  and  Newton,  the  religious  sects, 
and  the  English  Constitution.  They  also  revealed  Shakespeare 
to  the  French.  Voltaire's  sarcastic  temperament  could  not 
resist  comparisons  between  the  liberties  of  one  country  and  the 
privileges  of  the  other.  He  said  :  "A  man  because  he  is  noble 
or  a  priest  is  not  exempt  here  from  paying  certain  taxes.  Every 
one  pays.  Every  one  gives,  not  according  to  his  rank  (which  is 
absurd)  but  according  to  his  income." 

"  The  English  nation  is  the  only  one  in  the  world  which 
has  succeeded  in  regulating  the  power  of  kings  by  resisting 
them." 

"  If  there  were  only  one  religion  in  England,  its  despotism 
would  be  a  menace  ;  if  there  were  two  they  would  cut  each 
other's  throats  ;  but  there  are  thirty,  and  they  live  happily  and 
in  peace." 

Men  denounced  the  "  horrible  consequences  "  of  maxims 
predestined  to  "  arm  subjects  and  foment  revolts."  The  Abbe 
Molinier  thus  defines  his  adversaries',  the  philosophers',  pro- 
fession of  faith  :  "  It  is  a  new  sort  of  monster  in  society,  which 
acknowledges  none  of  the  claims  of  custom,  propriety,  politics 
or  religion.  Anything  may  be  expected  from  these  gentlemen." 
Voltaire  began  the  campaign  which  was  to  last  through  the 
whole  century. 

By  a  decree  of  June  10,  1734,  the  Parliament  ordered  his 
Lettres  to  be  publicly  burned.  This  made  him  nervous  and  he 
Voltaire  at  took  refuge  at  Cirey-sur-Blaise  with  the  Marquise 
Berlin.  du  Chatelet,  the  celebrated  mathematician  ;   once 

there,  as  it  was  near  the  frontier,  he  could  cross  into  Lorraine 
at  the  first  sign  of  danger.  At  Cirey  the  young  philosopher 
began  his  Steele  de  Louis  XIV,  thus  continuing  his  historical 
work,  which  had  had  so  successful  a  beginning  in  his  Charles  XII. 
He  regained  favour  at  Court,  was  made  Gentleman  in  Ordinary 
and  Royal  Historian,  and  finally  was  elected  to  the  Academic 

825 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

Fran^aise  in  1746.  When  Madame  du  Chatelet  died,  he  decided 
to  accept  the  King  of  Prussia's  repeated  offers,  and  went  to 
Potsdam  to  him  "vvhom  he  had  called  the  "  Solomon  of  the 
North."'  He  was  delighted  with  liis  host  and  his  Court.  "  A 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  victorious  soldiers,"  he  wrote,  "  no 
Public  Prosecutor,  opera,  comedy,  philosophy,  poetry,  a  philo- 
sophical and  poetic  hero,  grandeur  and  grace,  grenadiers  and 
Muses,  trumpets  and  violins,  Platonic  repose,  society  and 
liberty.  Who  would  believe  it  ?  All  this  is  true."  This  dream 
was  to  last  three  years.  At  first  Voltaire  said  :  "  I  give  an  hour 
each  day  to  the  King  of  Prussia  to  polish  up  his  prose  and 
poetical  works  ;  I  am  his  grammarian,  not  his  chamberlain." 
Then  when  a  quarrel  arose  about  Maupertuis,  the  geometrician, 
President  of  the  Berlin  Academy,  he  remarked  that  his  duty  was 
"  to  wash  the  Kings  dirty  linen,"  whilst  Frederick  declared  cyni- 
cally :  "  one  squeezes  the  orange  and  throws  away  the  skin." 

Voltaire  went  in  search  of  liberty  to  the  territory  of  the 
Genevan  Republic,  and  took  an  estate  at  Saint-Jean  which  he 
called  Les  Delices.  It  still  exists  near  the  gates  of  the  town. 
But  here  he  came  into  collision  with  the  narrowness  of  certain 
Calvinistic  ideas.  Lekain  came  to  Les  Delices  and  gave  some 
performances  which  aroused  the  susceptibilities  of  the  Consistory, 
the  enemy  of  "  innovations  so  contrary  to  religion  and  morals." 
Then  began,  in  1755,  Voltaire's  quarrel  with  Rousseau  about  the 
Poeme  sur  Ic  dcsasire  de  Lisbonne.  Jean- Jacques  wrote  a 
defence  of  Providence  which  Voltaire  answered  with  his  Candide. 
This  finished  the  discussion.  But  Les  Delices  had  lost  its  charm, 
Voltaire  at  and  Voltaire  went  to  live  at  Ferney  in  the  district 
Ferney.  of  Gex,  and  there  for  twenty  years  he  combined 

the  roles  of  nobleman,  somewhat  unscrupulous  speculator,  and 
literary  man.  He  still  held  the  Tourney  estate  which  had  been 
presented  to  him  by  the  President  de  Brosses,  and  he  used  to 
say  :  "  I  am  of  every  nation."  He  certainly  possessed  a  large 
tract  of  land  stretching  into  Switzerland,  Geneva,  France,  and 
the  Duchy  of  Savoy.  He  wrote  to  his  friend  Thic^rot :  "It 
brings  in  altogether  about  10,000  livres  of  annual  income,  and 
it  saves  me  more  than  20,000,  for  these  three  estates  practically 
pay  all  the  expenses  of  a  household,  in  which  I  have  more  than 
thirty  people  and  more  than  twelve  horses  to  feed." 
326 


LITERATURE 

Ferncy  is  now  a  pilgrimage  for  all  travellers  who  stop  at 
Geneva.  There  is  the  chateau  in  the  "  Doric  style  "  of  archi- 
tecture, on  the  frieze  of  which  Voltaire  fecit  was  inscribed.  The 
rooms  are  spacious  and  filled  with  souvenirs,  and  the  park  is 
especially  stately.  Voltaire  could  say  with  justice  :  "  Ferney 
has  become  one  of  the  pleasantest  spots  on  earth.  I  have 
made  gardens  which  arc  like  the  tragedy  which  is  forming  in 
my  head.  They  are  like  nothing  else.  Vines  in  festoons 
stretch  away  into  the  distance  ;  four  rustic  gardens  at  the  four 
cardinal  points,  the  house  in  the  middle,  practically  no  regu- 
larity." To-day  the  trees  have  grown,  the  hedges  are  thick 
and  well  kept,  the  walks  are  shady,  and  the  great  green  arbours 
have  all  the  poetry  of  beautiful  old  things.  In  such  a  spot  it  is 
easy  to  conjure  up  visions  of  the  life  of  a  man  supremely  happy 
in  that  he  was  conscious  of  his  good  fortune.  From  Ferney 
Voltaire  sent  forth  many  works  :  Le  Dictionnaire  Philosophigue 
in  1764,  Histoire  de  la  Russie  sous  Pierre  le  Grand,  and  philan- 
thropic pamphlets  such  as  the  Commentaire  des  delits  et  des 
peines,  Le  Cri  du  sang  innocent  and  others  connected  with  his 
celebrated  vindications  of  Calas,  Sirven,  and  Lally-Tollendal. 
In  February  1788  the  "  patriarch  "  went  to  Paris  where  an 
enthusiastic  reception  awaited  him.  The  people  crowded  into 
the  streets  to  see  him  pass,  the  horses  were  taken  out  of  his 
carriage,  which  was  then  drawn  by  his  admirers.  Visitors 
flocked  to  him,  among  them  deputations  from  the  Comedie 
Fran9aise  and  the  Academic,  Gliick,  Madame  Necker,  Madame 
de  Polignac,  representing  the  Queen,  Madame  du  Barry,  and 
ambassadors,  such  as  Franklin,  whose  grandson  he  blessed 
saying :  "  God  and  Liberty."  On  March  30,  after  the  sixth 
performance  of  Irene,  the  actors  crowned  the  bust  of  the 
dramatist  before  a  crowd  of  enthusiastic  spectators. 

"  You  wish  then  to  kill  me  with  glory,"  said  the  poet.  He 
did  not  know  how  truly  he  was  speaking.  He  died  on  May  30, 
Death  of  at  the  house  of  his  friend  the  Marquis  de  Villette, 

Voltaire.  at  the  corner  of  the  Rue  de  Beaune  and  the  Quai 

Voltaire,  formerly  the  Quai  des  Theatins.  He  passed  away 
terrified  at  the  thought  of  the  great  mystery.  He  received 
priests,  but  only  made  a  lay  confession :  "  I  die  adoring  God,  loving 
my  friends,  not  hating  my  enemies,  and  loathing  persecution." 

327 


THE    EIGHTEENTH     CENTURY 

His  name  has  been  a  political  watchword  under  different 
regimes,  but  in  this  respect  times  have  changed,  and  it  has 
now  lost  its  prcstifTc.  A  master  of  modern  criticism,  Monsieur 
G.  Lanson,  has  said  with  justice  :  "  It  seems  to  me  incontestable 
that  if  Voltaire  continues  to  exercise  any  influence  on  our  France 
it  must  be  a  purely  literary  and  intellectual  influence.  .  .  . 
Since  the  downfall  of  naturalism  and  the  symbolistic  crisis,  the 
evolution  of  prose  must  be  towards  brilliant  light,  that  is  to 
say,  the  eighteenth  century  and  Voltaire." 

If  the  patriarch  of  Fcrney  was  hapjiy,  Jean  Jacques  Kousseau 

was  the  most  unhappy  man  of  his  times.     He  was  sickly  from 

,  ,  „  a  child  ;    all  through  his  life  he  suiTered  both  in 

J.  J.  Rousseau,  i     ,  i      •    ,      ,  ^  i  i 

body  and  mmd  ;    he  was  strange,  brusque,  surly, 

and  full  of  pride,  and  yet  he  was  timid,  symjiathetic,  and  kind, 
and  he  inspires  a  profound  pity,  and  the  consideration  which  one 
feels  for  the  irresponsible  and  the  unbalanced.  Rousseau,  in 
spite  of  everything,  forces  us  to  admire  his  literary  powers. 
It  is  impossible  to  deny  his  genius  as  a  ^\Titer,  the  novelty  of 
liis  harmonious  diction,  and  the  emotions — slightly  morbid 
— which  he  felt  in  contemplating  nature.  He  rendered  prose 
poetical,  and  putting  green  on  his  ])alette,  unfolded  the  beauties 
of  the  country  ;  he  was  the  forerunner  of  a  generation  of  stylists 
numbering  among  them  Bcrnardin  de  Saint-Pierre  and  Chateau- 
briand. Madame  de  S6vign6  had  introduced  "  la  feuille  qui 
chante  "  ;  *  but  that  was  a  mere  solo  ;  Jean  Jacques  gave  the 
whole  symphony. 

He  was  born  at  Geneva  in  1712 ;  his  education  was  neglected  ; 
he  had  no  fortune  and  had  consequently  to  think  of  making  his 
own  livelihood.  He  tried  everything  ;  he  was  scribe,  engraver, 
teacher,  practically  a  domestic  servant,  secretary,  and  copyist 
of  music.  His  existence  was  a  paradox,  like  his  thoughts  and 
his  work.  He  began  to  vnr'iic  when  he  was  nearly  thirty,  and 
his  first  success  was  the  Discours  snr  les  Sciences  el  les  Arts, 
which  was  crowned  by  the  Dijon  Academic  in  1750.  In  this 
he  set  himself  against  society  and  civilization.  Next  he  wrote 
the  Nouvcllc  Jl^ldise  and  Emile,  that  strange  contradictory 
treatise  written  for  other  people's  children  by  a  man  who 
repudiated  his  own.     Emilc  was  rewarded  by  a  decree  of  arrest. 

♦  The  singing  leaf. 
828 


LITERATURE 

He  left  Paris  by  favour  of  the  Murcchal  de  Luxembourg, 
and  took  refuge  first  in  Switzerland  and  then  in  England. 
Afterwards  he  returned  to  France  and  aeeepted  the  hospitality 
of  the  Marquis  de  Girardin,  as  he  aeeepted  the  hospitality 
of  so  many  nobles  whose  kindness  he  abused.  He  died  at 
Ermenonville  in  1778,  some  weeks  after  his  cruel  enemy 
Voltaire. 

Rousseau  was  the  most  personal  of  the  philosophers.  The 
general  idea  of  all  his  books  is  that  man  was  good  and  that 
society  made  him  wicked,  that  he  was  free  and  that  society 
made  him  a  slave,  that  he  was  happy  and  that  society  made  him 
miserable.  He  preached  for  the  good  of  all,  but  in  reality  he 
was  defending  his  own  cause.  His  defence  was  all  the  more 
sincere.  He  sought  remedies  for  the  existing  state  of  things, 
and  set  them  forth  in  the  Nouvelle  Heloise,  but  unfortunately 
he  did  not  find  them  for  himself.  From  the  point  of  view  of 
politics,  he  explained  in  the  Conirat  Social  what  society  should 
be,  and  his  book  formed  the  gospel  of  the  Constituent  Assembly  ; 
in  it  they  found  the  principles  of  equality,  liberty,  and  fraternity 
and  adopting  the  Profession  de  foi  du  Vicaire  Savoyard  they 
maintained  the  omnipotence  of  God,  the  source  of  moral  energy. 
Thus  an  entire  creed  was  evolved  by  this  troubled  life  and 
excited  brain.  Its  details  are  sometimes  contradictory,  but 
as  a  whole  it  shows  complete  unity.  To  Rousseau's  credit  it 
must  be  said  that  he  never  disowned  his  books,  and  never,  like 
Voltaire,  wrote  anonymously. 

From  a  social  point  of  view  some  people  hold  the  eighteenth 
century  to  be  the  great  century.  This  sketch  of  the  writers  of 
the  period  shows  the  new  elements  they  introduced  into  litera- 
ture and  the  conceptions  they  gave  to  the  world.  In  this 
respect  they  are  great.  Voltaire,  Montesquieu,  Rousseau,  and 
Beaumarchais  spoke  with  infinite  brilliance  and  eloquence ; 
each  in  his  own  way  upheld  the  complaints  of  the  people  against 
the  privileged  classes.  But  they  saw  their  work  accomplished, 
and  their  works  are  retrospective  witnesses  thereto.  Under 
Louis  XIV  the  masterpieces  of  Bossuet,  Racine,  Moliere, 
Corneille,  Pascal,  and  La  Bruy^re  soar  above  their  times  and 
will  be  always  a  som-ce  of  pure  artistic  delight.  The  beauty 
and  eternal  interest  of  the  Oraisons  fun^bres,  Andromaque,  Le 

329 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

Misanthrope,  1c  Cid,  Lcs  Pensdcs,  and  Les  Caractercs  have  no  true 
parallels  in  the  eighteenth  century. 


IV 
THE  SALONS 

The  Duchcssc  du  Maine,  the  Prince  de  Conti,  tlic  Marquise  de 
Lambert,  Madame  de  Tencin,  Madame  Geoff rin. 

THE  society  which  devoured  the  works  of  the  philosophers 
and  rushed  in  crowds  to  the  tlicatrc  when  Boaumar- 
chais  was  played,  claims  a  place  in  this  last  chapter. 
The  salons,  where  authors  expounded  their  ideas  before  having 
them  printed,  give  an  insight  into  literary  manners  and  com- 
plete tlie  picture.  These  gatherings  date  really  from  the  death  of 
Louis  XIV.  Until  then  courtiers  were  contented  with  one 
The  Duchesse  circle,  and  the  homage  went  to  one  person  alone, 
du  Maine.  Madame  du  Maine  marks  the  transition  from  the 

seventeenth  to  the  eighteenth  century.  Sccaux  was  still  a 
court.  It  was  there  that  the  Grandcs  Nulls  were  instituted, 
meetings  devoted  to  gaming,  and  literary  diversions  whose 
subject  was  always  praise  of  the  mistress  of  this  semi-royal 
household.  One  evening  a  deputation  from  Greenland  made  a 
surprise  visit :  "  Renown,"  said  the  chief,  "  has  told  us  of  the 
virtues,  charms,  and  inclinations  of  Your  Most  Serene  Highness. 
We  have  seen  that  she  abhors  the  sun  .  .  ."  and  they  offered 
the  crown  of  Greenland  to  the  princess.  Another  time  the 
diversion  was  astronomic  ;  savants  had  discovered  a  new  star 
and  that  star  was  Madame  du  Maine. 

Her  intimates,  who  were  responsible  for  these  flatteries,  were 
numerous.  First  of  all  Malezieu,  ex-tutor  to  the  Due  du 
Maine,  who  combined  the  roles  of  secretary  and  savant.  "  His 
decisions,"  said  the  brilliant  Madame  de  Staal-Delaunay, 
attendant  on  Madame  du  Maine,  "  were  as  infallible  as  were 
those  of  Pythagoras  amongst  his  disciples.  The  hottest  disputes 
ended  the  moment  that  anyone  asserted:  he  said  so  !  ^'  Then 
there  was  the  Cardinal  de  Polignae,  titular  professor  of  philosophy 
to  the  little  court.  He  was  the  author  of  the  Anti-Lucrece, 
330 


THE    SALONS 

a  Latin  poem  written  in  defence  of  morals  and  theology.  Another 
was  the  President  de  Mesmes,  who  unbent  so  far  as  to  per- 
form comedies  for  the  Duchess'  diversion.  There  were  others 
among  them  who  were  genuine  men  of  letters,  such  as  the 
Abbe  de  Chaulieu  the  poet,  Fontenelle,  and  Voltaire. 

On  one  occasion  some  one  asked  Fontenelle  in  the  Duchess's 
presence : 

"  What  is  the  difference  between  a  clock  and  Madame  du 
Maine  ?  " 

"  One  tells  the  hours,  the  other  makes  one  forget  them," 
replied  Fontenelle. 

Voltaire,  to  redeem  a  forfeit,  made  the  following  well-known 

enigma  : 

Cinq  voyelles,  une  consonne 
En  fran9ais  composent  mon  nom, 
Et  je  porte  sur  ma  personne 
De  quoi  I'ecrire  sans  crayon.* 

Everyone  was  in  ectasies  when  the  Duchesse  guessed  oiseau 
(a  bird). 

It  is  strange  that  the  Cellamare  conspiracy  should  have 
originated  in  this  atmosphere.  But  this  opera-goddess  naturally 
aspired  to  play  a  part  in  a  tragi-comedy.t 

We  may  pass  over  the  Regent's  Court  at  the  Palais  Royal, 
celebrated  for  its  suppers  and  orgies  ;  the  next  salon  of  im- 
The  Prince  portance  was  that  of  the  Prince  de  Conti,  who 
de  Conti.  received    a    select    society  at    the    Temple.     In 

Ollivier's  little  picture  in  the  Louvre  we  are  shown  the  Princesse 
de  Beauvau,  the  Comtesse  de  Boufflers,  the  Comtesse  d'Egmont, 
the  Marechale  de  Luxembourg,  the  Mareehale  de  Mirepoix,  the 
President  Renault,  the  Bailie  de  Chabrillant,  Pont-de-Veyle, 
Trudaine,  and  others.  The  child  Mozart  is  at  the  harpsichord, 
and  beside  him  is  Jelyotte  singing  and  accompanying  himself 
on  the  guitar.  This  picture  is  a  most  precious  document ;  it 
shows  the  atmosphere  of  sober  elegance  which  reigned  at  the 
meetings  of  all  these  great  ladies,  clever  men,  and  artists. 

The  Prince  de  Conti  was  that  Louis-Fran9ois  de  Bourbon 

*  Five  vowels  and  one  consonant  compose  my  name  in  French,  and 
I  carry  on  my  person  that  with  which  to  write  it  without  a  pencil, 
t  See  chap,  iv,  pp.  46,  47. 

331 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

Avlio  was  for  a  lonjr  time  candidate  for  the  throne  of  Pohmd, 
and  was  concerned  in  the  secret  diplomacy  of  Louis  XV.  His 
Versailles  was  the  Chateau  de  I'lle-Adam.  According  to  a  con- 
temporary he  was  very  well  made,  and  in  that  respect  he  was 
unlike  the  rest  of  the  Contis,  who  had  an  hereditary  hump. 
His  bearing  was  noble  and  majestic,  his  features  handsome  and 
regular,  his  face  agreeable  and  intellectual,  and  his  looks 
proud  or  gentle  as  occasion  demanded  He  expressed  himself 
on  every  subject  with  considerable  warmth  and  power. 

He  had  conducted  many  brilliant  campaigns,  particularly 
in  Italy  in  1744  ;  he  was  even  compared  to  his  ancestor,  the 
hero  of  Lens  and  Roeroi.  He  was  one  of  the  protectors  of 
Rousseau,  Reaumarehais,  and  the  Chevalier  de  Florian.  The 
Prince  de  Conti  will  always  be  the  type  of  a  witty  and  intelligent 
patrician. 

Rut  it  w^as  private  individuals,  and  even  ladies  of  the  middle 
classes  wdio  gave  the  tone  to  society.  With  them  there  was 
more  conscious  freedom  and  less  feeling  of  restraint.  In  their 
houses  there  was  a  sort  of  republic  on  Athenian  lines,  com- 
posed of  men  of  the  world  and  men  of  letters.  We  will  enter 
some  of  their  doors,  and  the  Marquise  de  Lambert,  Madame  de 
Tenein,  and  INIadamc  de  Geoffrin  shall  in  turn  disclose  the 
histories  of  their  little  "kingdoms." 

The  Marquise  de  Lambert  was  a  woman  of  considerable 
attainments.  This  fact  is  proved  by  her  Avis  a  sa  fille,  her 
The  Marquise  Avis  a  sonfils,  and  her  TraiU  de  la  Vieillcssc.  Her 
de  Lambert.  ideas  were  shrewd  and  her  style  good,  if  a  trifle 
laboured,  and  she  was  a  judge  of  character.  Some  of  her 
maxims,  which  date  from  the  end  of  Louis  XIV's  reign,  antici- 
pate Vauvenargues  and  Rousseau.  For  instance:  "Accustom 
yourselves  to  show  kindness  and  consideration  to  your  servants. 
An  ancient  writer  once  said  that  they  should  be  regarded  as 
unfortunate  friends."  "  Ry  the  word  conscience  I  mean  that 
inward  sense  in  an  honourable  man,  which  tells  him  whether 
he  has  anything  with  which  to  reproach  himself."  "  I  exhort 
you,  my  son,  to  improve  your  heart  far  more  than  to  perfeel 
your  mind.     Man's  true  greatness  is  in  his  heart." 

She  lived  in  a  part  of  the  old  Palais  Mazarin  which  she 
rented  from  the  Due  de  Nevers.  There,  on  the  Tuesday  and 
882 


THE    SALONS 

Wednesday  in  each  week  from  1710  to  1733,  a  chosen  circle 
of  aristocratic  and  Hterary  guests  met  together.  Members  of 
the  Academy  were  welcomed,  and  they  readily  listened  to 
Madame  de  Lambert's  suggestions.  People  were  scarcely  ad- 
mitted under  the  "  Cupola  "  "  unless  they  had  been  presented 
at  her  house  and  by  her."  Thus  said  Argenson,  and  he  knew 
better  than  anyone.  He  frequented  her  salon  most  assiduously 
and  has  left  some  lines  on  the  death  of  the  Marquise,  giving  his 
impressions  in  the  form  of  a  funeral  oration  :  "  I  have  just 
sustained  a  great  loss  in  the  death  of  Madame  la  Marquise  de 
Lambert  at  the  age  of  eighty-six.  ...  It  was  an  honour  to  be 
admitted  to  her  house.  I  went  there  to  dinner  regularly  on 
Wednesdays,  which  was  one  of  her  days.  In  the  evening  she 
held  her  reception,  where  the  guests  conversed  and  there  was 
no  more  question  of  cards  than  at  the  famous  Hotel  de  Ram- 
bouillet,  so  much  praised  by  Voiture  and  Balzac.  She  was  rich 
and  made  good  use  of  her  wealth  by  generosity  to  her  friends, 
and  particularly  to  the  unfortunate."  This  compensates  for 
Marais'  mockery  and  Lesage's  banter  of  "  the  Mai-quise  de 
Chaves  "  in  a  chapter  of  Gil  Bias. 

Under  the  Regency,  Madame  de  Lambert  maintained  the 
traditions  of  politeness  and  good  taste.  These  were  not  always 
Madame  de  predominant  in  Madame  de  Tencin's  salon,  for 
Tencin.  there  intrigue  prevailed,  and  the  hum  of  conver- 

sation became  an  uproar.  "  She  was,"  said  Marmontel,  "  a 
woman  of  profound  sense,  but  her  good-natured  and  simple 
exterior  made  her  look  more  like  the  housekeeper  than  the 
mistress  of  the  house."  Marivaux  owed  much  to  this  lady.  In 
his  Vie  de  Marianne  he  sketched  some  of  the  features  of  his 
benefactress'  society.  "  Marivaux,"  said  Marmontel,  "  often 
embarrassed  his  hearers  by  sophisms  which  were  sufficiently 
subtle  to  appear  simple,  and  Madame  de  Tencin  was  always 
embarrassing  Marivaux  by  observations  which  hid  wisdom 
under  extreme  simplicity." 

One  day  some  ludicrous  verses  by  Colle  were  read  in  Fonte- 
nelle's  presence.  Fontenelle  did  not  quite  understand  and  asked 
that  the  couplet  should  be  read  again. 

"  Why  you  great  imbecile  !  "  cried  Madame  de  Tencin,  "  do 
you  not  see  that  it  is  only  nonsense  ?  " 

883 


THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY 

"It  so  resembles,"  replied  Fontenelle,  "all  the  verses  I 
hear  read  and  sung  here,  it  is  not  astonishing  that  I  made  a 
mistake." 

Madame  de  Tencin  died  in  17i9.  She  knew  Madame 
Geoffrin  and  left  her  this  adviee  :  "  Do  not  diseourage  people  ; 
even  though  nine  people  out  of  ten  will  not  take  an  atom  of 
trouble  for  you,  the  tenth  may  become  a  useful  friend."  Suard 
says  that  she  knew  how  to  use  a  fool  as  well  as  a  ^\^se  man. 
She  foresaw  that  Madame  GcofTrin  would  one  day  take  her  place, 
and  she  said  to  her  friends  in  her  middle-class  way  : 

"  Do  you  know  what  the  GcofTrin  comes  here  for  ?  She 
comes  to  see  what  she  can  pick  up  out  of  my  inventory." 

IMadame  Geofl'rin's  salon  was  the  most  characteristic  of  the 
eighteenth  century  ;  the  mingling  of  the  classes  began  there 
Madame  more   than   anywhere   else.     "  Her  house,"   said 

Geoffrin.  the    Memoir es    secrets,    "  is    the    rendezvous    of 

savants,  artists,  and  famous  men  of  all  sorts.  Foreigners 
especially  considered  they  had  seen  nothing  in  France  if  they 
had  not  been  presented  to  this  celebrity." 

At  Madame  Geoffrin's  everything  was  done  with  as  much 
regularity  as  in  a  public  office  ;  there  were  two  dinners  a 
week,  the  one  on  Monday  for  artists  such  as  Van  Loo,  Vernet, 
Boucher,  Vien,  Soufllot,  and  Lemoine,  and  the  other  on  Wednes- 
day for  men  of  letters  like  d'Alembert,  Marivaux,  Marmontel, 
Morellet,  Saint-Lambert,  and  d'Holbach.  Madame  GeolTrin 
kept  the  conversation  well  under  her  control  ;  if  it  strayed  on 
to  vexed  questions  such  as  religious  belief,  although  she  approved 
of  the  Encyclopaedists,  Madame  Geoffrin  stopped  the  discussion 
with,  That  is  all  rigid,  and  it  was  useless  to  say  more  as  this  was 
known  to  be  her  last  word,  and  they  were  obliged  to  go  and 
make  their  Sabbath  elsewhere.  She  herself  talked  little,  though 
when  she  did  she  spoke  sensibly,  and  either  introduced  a  maxim 
or  some  well-told  anecdote.  She  once  said  to  the  Chevalier 
de  Coigny,  who  was  telling  an  interminable  story :  "  Would  you 
be  so  good  as  to  carve  this  eai)on  ?  "  and  as  the  young  man  took 
a  very  little  knife  out  of  liis  pocket,  she  added  :  "  To  succeed 
in  this  country,  one  must  have  large  knives  and  little  stories.'* 

Her  wit  was  jiarticularly  used  against  bores,  whom  she  could 
not  endure,  and  importunate  visitors  who  stayed  too  long. 
331 


THE    SALONS 

One  day  when  she  saw  the  good  Abbe  de  Saint-Pierre  settle 
himself  down  in  her  drawing-room  for  a  long  winter's  evening, 
she  was  for  the  moment  appalled,  and  then  she  rose  to  the 
occasion  and  drew  him  out  to  such  an  extent  that  she  made  him 
amusing.  He  was  astonished,  and  when  she  complimented 
him  on  his  conversation,  he  answered  as  he  took  leave  : 

"  Madame,  I  am  only  an  instrument  on  which  you  have 
played  well," 

Chatterers  made  her  turn  pale  and  "  feel  like  death,"  and 
yet  she  managed  to  put  up  with  them  if,  as  she  said,  "  they 
were  simply  chatterers,  and  only  wished  to  speak  without 
expecting  any  answer.  My  friend  Fontenelle,  who  pardoned 
them  as  I  did,  said  that  they  gave  his  lungs  a  rest.  They  confer 
another  benefit  on  me  :  their  insignificant  buzzing  is  to  me  like 
the  noise  of  bells,  which  does  not  prevent  one  from  thinking 
and  often  stimulates  thought."  She  was  good  and  charitable, 
but  a  little  crabbed  ;  there  was  a  certain  egotism  about  her 
generosity,  as  the  following  reflexion  of  hers  shows  :  "  Those 
who  rarely  do  things  for  others  have  no  need  of  maxims,  but 
those  who  are  continually  doing  things  for  others  should  do  them 
in  the  way  which  is  most  agreeable  to  themselves,  because  one 
must  do  comfortably  anything  that  has  to  be  done  every  day.^^ 
Her  motto  should,  however,  be  remembered  ;  it  was  give  and 
lose. 

There  were  other  well-known  hostesses,  such  as  the  Marquise 
du  Deffant,  Julie  de  Lespinasse,  the  Marechale  de  Luxembourg, 
Madame  d'Epinay,  Madame  Necker,  Madame  Helvetius,  and 
many  other  celebrated  women.  But  the  most  interesting 
galleries  are  those  in  which  the  pictures  are  not  too  crowded. 
Madame  de  Lambert  and  Madame  Geoff rin,  one  about  1730 
and  the  other  about  1760,  are  the  best  representatives  of  the 
wit  of  their  times,  and  with  them  we  may  fitly  conclude  a  study 
of  the  Eighteenth  Century. 


335 


INDEX 


Abrege  de  la  Morale  de  VEvangile,  by  Pere 
Quesnel,  123 

Accordee  du  Village,  by  Greuze,  305 

Adelaide,  Madame,  daughter  of  Louis 
XV,  birth,  98  ;  character,  101,  102  ; 
death,  102  ;  relations  with  the  King, 
104 

Administration  des  Finances,  by  Necker, 
273 

Aguesseau,  Chancellor  d',  justification  of 
Due  d'Orleans,  25 

Aiguillon,  Due  d'.  Governor  of  Brittany, 
194  ;  incompetence,  202  ;  summoned 
to  the  King,  208  ;  efforts  for  Maurcpas, 
215  ;  dismissed,  216  ;  finally  exiled, 
229 

Aix-la-Chapelle,  Peace  and  results  of 
Treaty,  151 

Alberoni,  character,  career,  and  treaty 
with  England,  40  ;  discovery  of  Cella- 
mare  Conspiracy,  46  ;  schemes  failing, 
47  ;  dismissal,  48  ;  death,  49 

Alembert,  J.  L.  d',  letter  of  Frederick 
the  Great  to,  213  ;  Traiti  dynamique, 
310  ;  collaborates  in  the  Encyclopaedia, 
313 

Alsace,  attempted  invasion  of,  135 

Amelot,  succeeds  Malesherbes,  242 

Andromaque  parodied,  81 

Angouleme,  Duchesse  d'  (Madame 
Royale),  birth,  258  ;  early  training, 
259  ;  Marie-Antoinette's  farewell  mes- 
sage to,  260 

Anna  Maria  Victoria  of  Spain,  betrothed 
to  Louis  XV,  50  ;  betrothal  cancelled, 
Gl 

Architects,  307 

Ar^on,  Colonel  d',  at  blockade  of  Gibral- 
tar, 268 

Arethusa  against  Belle  Poule,  256 

Argenson,  Marquis  d',  gives  way  to  Law, 
28  ;  describes  Marquise  de  Prie,  59  ; 
description  of  Fleury,  85  ;  uncertain 
policy,  147  ;  on  battle  of  Fontenoy, 
149  ;  proposes  peace,  150  ;  prophetic 
words,  157  ;  warning  against  revolu- 
tion, 162  ;  on  popular  excitement,  163  ; 
sacrificed,  168 


Artois,  Comte  d',  character,  232  ;  favour- 
able opinion  of  Joseph  II,  251  ;  in  the 
Spanish  campaign,  268 
Aaiento,  151 

Assas,  Chevalier  d',  heroic  death,  184 
Assemblies,  Provincial,  definitely  estab- 
lished, 288 
Augustiniana  and  Jansenists,  123 
Augustus  II,  King  of  Poland,  death,  87 
Austria,   share  in  partition   of   Poland, 
187  ;  appeal  to  Franco  for  troops,  257 

Bachaumont  Memoirs,  conversation  be- 
tween King  and  Richelieu,  270  ;  visit 
of  Louis  XVI  to  Cherbourg,  282 

Bagatelle,  307 

Balloon  crosses  Channel,  271 

Barhier  de  Seville,  205,  322 

Barry,  Madame  du,  advent  of,  194  ;  in- 
trigues against  Choiseul,  196  ;  ignored 
by  Marie-Antoinette,  201  ;  dismissed 
from  Court,  207,  208 

Bavarian  Succession,  threatened  War  of, 
257 

Bayle,  Dictionary,  36 

Beaumarchais,  quarrel  with  Goezmann, 
205  ;  on  recall  of  Parliament,  220  ; 
Mariage  de  Figaro,  great  success,  269  ; 
dramas,  320  ;  other  works  and  quota- 
tions, 322,  323 

Beaumont,  Monseigneur  de,  Archbishop 
of  Paris,  161  ;  exiled,  164 ;  return, 
165 

Bejon,  Madame,  34 

Belle  Poule  against  Arethusa,  256 

Belle-Isle,  Comte  de,  intrigues  in  favour 
of  Elector  of  Bavaria,  115;  disagree- 
ment with  Broglie,  121  ;  evacuation 
of  Prague,  122  ;  failure  of  his  projects, 
130  ;  account  of  Richelieu's  army,  176 

Belzunce,  Monseigneur  de,  at  Marseilles, 
37 

Bentivoglio,  Papal  Nuncio,  21 

Berlin  entered  by  Russians  and  Austrians> 
185 

Bernis,  20,  169 ;  negotiations  between 
Louis  XV  and  Maria  Theresa,  174 ; 
efforts  for  peace  and  resignation,  181 

337 


INDEX 


Bertholot  de  Floneuf.  27 
Borthollet.  chemist,  311 
Berwick,   French  general,  47  ;    captures 

Kohl,  91  ;  death.  95 
Besenval  on  Brienne,  291  ;   on  funeral  of 

Louis  XV,  210  ;  warns  Mario- Antoin- 
ette, 289 
Blanchard,  aeronaut,  271 
Boehmer,  traveller,  275 
Bohemia  ovacuated  by  the  French,  132  ; 

invaded  by  Frederick  the  Great,  142 
Boscawen,   Admiral,  surprise  attack  on 

the  French,  173 
Bouchardon,  306 

Bourbon,   Louis   Francois,   Due   do,   see 
Conti.  331,  332 
Louis  Henri,  Due  de.  Prime  Minister, 
57  ;    character,  58  ;    cinquantieme 
tax  imposed,  61  ;    interview  with 
King,     78 ;      public     complaints 
against,  79  ;   conflict  with  Floury, 
79  ;     dismissal  to   Chantilly,   80  ; 
restored  to  favour,  81  ;    death,  81 
Bourgogne,  Duo  de,  birth,  159 
Breda,  151 
Brienne,  Lomenie  do,  candidate  for  the 

ministry,      284  ;       appointment     and 

character,     286 ;      concessions,     287  ; 

appointed   Prime   Minister,   289 ;    his 

rapacity,  291  ;  fall,  293 
Brimborion,  307 
Broglio,     Marshal,     disagreement     with 

Belle-Islo,    121  ;     rivalries    with    Con- 

tades  and  Saint-Cyr,  184  ;  on  partition 

of  Poland,  204 
Buffon,  Histoire  naturelle  and  Epoques  de 

la  Nature,  311 
Bull  Unigenilus,  accepted  by  Parliament, 

51  ;  denounces  Jansenists,  123 
Burko,    Edmund,    on    Marie-Antoinette, 

199 
Byng,  Admiral,  execution,  173 

Caoliostbo,    deception    of    de    Rohan, 

274 
Calas,  327 
Calonnc,  character,  271,  272  ;   Assembly 

of  Notables  convened,   283  ;    speech, 

285  ;    exile  and  flight,  286 ;    burnt  in 

effigy,  290 
Cambrai,  Congress,  86 
Campan,    Madamo    do,    reader    to    the 

Princesses,  104 
Canada,  Montcalm  defeated,  181  ;  lost  to 

France.  187 
Candide,  by  Voltaire,  326 
Carlos,  Don.  made  Duke  of  Parma,  86  ; 

march  on  Naples.  92 
Camavalet   Museum,   Machy'a   views  of 

Paris  303 

388 


Castries  commands  at  Klosterkampen, 
184  ;  succeeds  Sartino  as  Naval 
Minister,  263 

Catherine  of  Russia,  intervention  as  to 
the  marriage  of  Louis  XV,  64 

Cellamare  Conspiracy,  46,  331 

Cevonnes  threatened,  163 

Chambord,  Chateau  de,  Stanislas  takes 
up  residence  at,  76  ;  Marshal  do  Sax© 
life-tenant  of,  158 

Chambre  de  Juitice  set  up  by  Noailles,  27  ; 
abolished,  28 

Chambre  Royale  instituted,  163 ;  sup- 
pressed, 164 

Chamfort  on  death  of  Ix)uis  XIV.  3 

Chantilly,  58  ;    Bourbon  sent  to,  80 

Charles  VI.  Emperor,  defeated  every- 
where, 96;  death.  112 

Charles  Albert  becomes  Emperor,  115; 
siege  of  Prague  by,  118;  entry  into 
Prague  and  lami)oons,  119  ;  meets 
Noailles,  133  ;  death,  147 

Charles  Edward,  Chevalier  de  St.  Georges, 
banished  from  France,  152 
of  Lorraine,  Prince,  attacks  Alsaco, 
138  ;  re-crosses  Rhine,  141 

Chardin,  interiors  and  portraits,  303, 
304 

Charost,  Duo  de,  succeeds  Villeroy  as 
Governor  to  Louis  XV,  22 

Chartres,  Due  de,  58,  100 

Chateauroux,  Duchesso  de,  favourite  of 
Louis  XV,  110,  136  ;  with  army,  139  ; 
lampoons  against,  139 ;  ordered  to 
leave  Metz,  l40 

Chatillon  disgraced,  fever  and  death,  143 

Chauvelin,  Secretary  of  State,  84 

Chenier,  Andre,  characteristics  of  hia 
verse,  316-318  ;  execution,  318 

Cherbourg,  English  raid  on,  181  ;  visit  of 
Louis  XVI  to,  282.  283 

Choiscul,  Due  do,  replaces  Bcrnis,  181  ; 
character,  182  ;  projected  invasion  of 
England,  183;  negotiations  with 
England,  185  ;  decrees  suppression  of 
Jesuits,  190  ;  regains  lost  favour,  193  ; 
conquest  of  Corsica,  I9(i ;  arranges  the 
marriage  of  the  Dauphin  and  Mario- 
Antoinette,  199  ;  displaced  by  in- 
trigues, 197  ;  received  at  Court,  216; 
return  to  Chanteloup,  217  ;  recall  de- 
sired by  Marie-Antoinotto,  228  ;  sup- 
ports Polignac  partisans,  235 ;  hos- 
tility to  Joseph  II,  252 

Cinquanliime  tax  imposed,  61  ;  repealed. 
81 

Clairant,  A.  C,  mathematician,  310 

Clergy,  friction  with  Parliament,  161  ; 
censured  by  Parliament,  102  ;  vote  of 
money  to  King,  165  ;   to  Calonno,  273 


INDEX 


Clermonfc,  Comte  de,  appointed  general, 
and  lampoons  against,  179  ;  defeat  at 
Crofcld,  180 

Clivo  in  India,  172 

Coigny,  Marechal  do,  wins  battle  of 
Parma,  95  ;  commands  army  of  Italy, 
136 

Coigny,  Chevalier  de,  334 

Coislin,  Bishop  of  Metz,  13 

Compte  Rendu  by  Necker,  265 

Conde,  Prince  de,  protests  against  reform, 
262 

Condorcet  on  Turgot,  222 

Contades,  Marquis  de,  recalled,  184 

Conti,  Prince  de,  withdraws  gold  from 
Law's  Bank,  33  ;  assists  Don  Philip, 
135;  involved  in  Corn  War,  225; 
Salon  at  Temple,  331  ;  character  and 
appearance,  332 

Contractors  sentenced  by  Chambra  de 
Justice,  27 

Contrat  Social,  by  Rousseau,  329 

Corn  War,  222 ;  trial  of  scapegoats, 
225 

Corsica,  acquired  by  Choiseul,  196 

Corvees,  abolition  proposed  by  Turgot, 
240 

Councils  replace  Secretaries  of  State,  24  ; 
abolished,  25,  45 

Court  parties,  200 

Coustou,  N.  and  G.,  Chevanx  de  Marly, 
etc.,  306 

Crefeld,  defeat  of  Clermont  at,  180 

Croy,  Due  de,  on  Madame  de  Pompadour, 
166  ;  on  character  of  Marie  Leszczyn- 
ska,  194  ;  on  Marie-Antoinette,  199 ;  on 
death  of  Louis  XV,  208 ;  on  Louis 
XVI  and  Queen,  215  ;  on  weakness  of 
Louis  XVI,  220 ;  on  Coronation  of 
Louis  XVI,  227  ;  on  the  Royal  Aunts, 
232  ;  as  to  the  decline  of  monarchy, 
243 ;  on  alliance  between  France 
and  United  States,  256  ;  on  death  of 
Maurepas,  267 

Cumberland  defeated  by  D'Estrdes, 
175 

Damiens,  attempt  to  assassinate  King, 
166  ;  execution  of,  169 

Danzig,  French  fleet  leaves,  93  ;  returns 
to,  94  ;  capitulation  of,  95 

Daun,  defeats  Frederick  the  Groat,  175  ; 
defeated  at  Leuthen,  178  ;  victory  at 
Hochkirchen,  180 ;  procrastination, 
183 

Dauphin,  eon  of  Louis  XV,  birth,  98 ; 
marriages,  105,  144,  145  ;  character, 
106  ;  at  Fontenoy,  149  ;  first  son  born, 
159 ;  illness,  159 ;  recovery,  160 ; 
treated  aa  King,  167  ;  death,  191 


Dauphin,  grandson  of  Louis  XV,  birth, 

164  ;  education,  192 
Dauphin,  son  of  Louis  XVI,  born,  266 
Dthotti,  ceremony  of  the,  104 
Destouches,  his  sources,  319 
Dottingon,  battle  of,  132 
Diamond  Necklace,  affair  of  the,  275- 

378 
Dictionnaire  Philosophique,   by  Voltaire, 

327 
Diderot,   Leller   on   blindness,    156 ;     on 

tho  Dauphin,   192  ;    on  Machy,  303 ; 

on  Chardin,  304,  305  ;    his  praise  of 

Greuze,  305 
Dillon,  Archbishop  of  Narbonno,  285 
Droit  de  ceinture  resigned,  214 
Du  Barry,  Madame,  see  Barry 
Dubois,  Abb6,   English  policy,  20,  44 ; 

character,   38  ;    ambition  and  greed, 

45  ;  Ambassador  in  London,  46  ;  letter 

to  Stanhope,  48  ;    ambition  satisfied, 

51  ;    death,  62 
Dupleix  in  India,   171  ;    recalled,   172  ; 

Macaulay  and  Malleson  on,  172 

EooLE  MiLiTAiRE  foundod,  157 

Egra,  retreat  from,  122 

Elector  of  Bavaria  yields  to  Austria,  147 

Elisabeth,  Madame,  letter  from  Marie- 
Antoinette  to,  260 

Elizabeth,  Czarina,  died,  185 

Elizabeth  Farnese,  marriage  to  Philip  V, 
39  ;  influenced  by  Alberoni,  40  ;  letter 
to  Duke  of  Parma,  49 

Eloge  de  Colbert,  by  Necker,  245 

Embrun,  Council  of,  123 

Emile,  by  J.  J.  Rousseau,  328 

Encyclopsedia,  first  volumes,  161 ;  allowed 
to  reappear,  165 ;  D'Alembert  and 
Diderot  contributors   to,   313-315 

England,  treaty  with  Spain,  40  ;  under- 
standing with  France,  42 ;  Triple 
Alliance,  44 ;  allied  with  Frederick 
the  Great,  120 ;  invasion  planned, 
135 ;  war  declared  by  France  and 
Spain  on,  135 ;  profits  by  Peace  of  Aix- 
la-Chapelle,  151  ;  war  declared  against 
France,  173  ;  projected  invasion,  183, 
262  ;  peace  with  France,  186 

Entente  Cordiale  first  established,  42 

Epoques  de  la  Nature,  311 

Esprit  des  Lois,  156 

Estaing,  d',  defeated  at  Savannah,  263 

Estrees,  Comte  d',  made  a  Marshal  and 
Commander-in-Chief,  175  ;  victory  at 
Hastembeck,  175  ;  superseded,  176 

Falklakd  Isles  dispute,  196 
Family  Compact,  186  ;  leads  to  interven- 
tion in  1776,  255 

389 


INDEX 


Farmers-Gpnoral  roinstntcd.  37 

Fatis^es  Confidences,  by  Marivaux,  320 

Ferdinand  of  Brunswick,  victory  at  Cro- 
fcld,  180 

Fernoy,  327 

Five  Wounds  of  France,  165 

riamarens,  anecdote  of  Queen  and.  107 

Floury,  Cardinal,  character,  20  ;  Prime 
Minister,  21  ;  conflict  with  Due  do 
Bourbon,  78  ;  patient  intrigues,  79  ; 
made  Cardinal,  83  ;  reconciliation  with 
Spain  and  simplicity  of  his  life,  85  ; 
letter  to  Father  Bermudez,  87  ; 
abandons  Stanislas,  93 ;  summons 
Council  of  Embrun,  123  ;  exiles  cer- 
tain memlxirB  of  the  Parliaments,  124  } 
death  and  character,  by  Voltaire,  122, 
125  ;  duped  by  Walpolc,  171 

Fontainebleau  treaties,  134,  280;  Galerio 
d'Ulvsso  demolished,  307 

Fontenelle,  25,  311,  333 

Fontenoy,  battle  of,  146-148 

Fontcvrault  Abbey,  Princesses  exiled 
to,  101 

France,  rupture  with  Spain,  47  ;  Treaty 
of  Aix-la-Chapelle,  151  ;  popular  dis- 
content, 152  ;  Provincial  Parliaments 
join  with  Paris,  162 ;  war  against 
England,  173 ;  state  of  army,  177  ; 
navy  destroyed,  183  ;  losses  through 
war,  187  ;  alliance  with  United  States, 
255,  256  ;  agitation  as  to  La  Chatolais, 
195  ;  peace  with  England,  268  j 
general  unrest,  292 

Francis  III  acquires  Tuscany,  96 

Frankfort  Diet,  119 

Franklin,  Benjamin,  visit  to  Franco,  255, 
256 

Frederick  the  Great,  ambitious  schemes 
and  invasion  of  Austria,  113,  114; 
alliance  with  Louis  XV,  116;  defec- 
tion from  Allies,  120  ;  joined  by  Eng- 
land, 120  ;  treaty  with  Louis  XV,  138  ; 
invades  Bohemia,  142  ;  treaty  of 
Dresden,  150  ;  final  acquisition  of 
Silesia,  151  ;  deserts  Louis  XV,  173  ; 
treachery  to  Louis  XV  and  invasion  of 
Saxony,  174  ;  defeat  at  Kollin  and 
rapture  of  Prague,  175;  in  Saxony, 
177  ;  victory  at  Ltnithcn  and  anecdoto 
as  to  desertion,  178  ;  defeat  at  Kiincrs- 
dorff,  183;  saved  by  Peter  111,  185; 
victory  at  Torgau,  185;  gains  Silesia 
by  treaty  of  Hubertsburg,  187  ; 
originates  partition  of  Poland,  202  ; 
on  Maria  Theresa  and  partition  of 
Poland,  203  ;  on  accession  of  Louis 
XVI.  213;  on  Joseph  II,  252; 
threatens  Bohemia,  257 ;  invite*  Vol- 
taire to  Potsdam,  326 

340 


Furncs  taken,  137 
Fiissen,  Treaty  of,  147 

Gabriel,  architect  of  Petit  Trianon,  etc., 

307 
Galissonni^re,  Marquis  de,  captures  Port 

Mahon,  173 
Gallican  liberties  asserted,  124,  IGl 
Genlis,  Madame  do,  anecdote  of  Chevalier 

do  ChastcUux,  310 
GeofTrin,  Madame,  334  ;    on  chatterers, 

335 
George   I,   interview   with   Regent,   41  ; 

and  with  Dubois,  42 
George  II,  at  battle  of  Dettingen,  132 
German  Emperor,  candidates  for  throne 

of,    112;   Charles    Albert,  Elector    of 

Bavaria  chosen,  115 
Gibraltar     besieged     by     Spain,     263 ; 

blockade,  268 
Gisors,  Comte  de,  179  ;   account  of  Cler- 
mont, 180  ;   death  at  Crefeld,  180 
Glfick,    Chevalier,    308 ;     contest    with 

Piccini,  309 
Goethe  on  Diamond  Necklace,  278 
Goezmann,  lawsuit  with  Bcaumarcbaia, 

206 
Gramont,  Due  de,  death,  149 
Grander  Nuits  at  Sceaux,  330 
Orands  Baillingts,  292 
Gressot,  Mtchant  &nd  Vert-Vert,  319 
Greuzo  and  his  art,  305 
Grimaldo,  minister  to  Philip  V,  39 
Guastalla,  victory  of,  96 
Guemenee,  Princesso  de,  intrigues,  236  ; 

criticized  by  Joseph  II,  251 
Guemenee,   Pr.   de  Rohan,   bankruptcy, 

267 
"  Guerre  des  Bouffons,"  309 
Guines,  do,  affair  of,  299 

Hanover,  Treaty  of,  86 
Hastembeck,  victory  of  French  at,  175 
Hay,  Ix)rd  C.,  at  Fontenoy,  148 
H6nault,    President,   51  ;     his  character 
of  the  Marquise  de   Prio,  59  ;   his  de- 
scription of  Choiseul,  182 
Henriettc,   Madame,   birth,   98 ;    death, 

159 
Ilippolyle  et  Artcie,  by  Rameau,  308 
Ilisloirc  Nolurdlr,  hy  Buff  on,  311 
Historical  pictures,  301 
Hoi  bach,  share  in  Encyclopadia,  313 
Houdon,  statue  of  Voltaire,  306 
Horn,  Comte  de,  murder  hy,  34 
Hubertsburg,  Treaty  of,  187 
Huguenots,  five  thousand  exiled,  163 

IxDiA,  rivalry  of  French  and  English  in, 
172 


INDEX 


JAN3EKIST3, 123  ;  contcst  against  Jesuits, 
189  ;  conflict  with  Ultraraontanes,  1C4 

"  Joan  Farine  "  at  Versailles,  224 

Jesuits,  expulsion  from  various  countries, 
186,  189 

Joseph  II,  intercepted  letter  of,  228, 
229  ;  his  remonstrance  to  Mario-An- 
toinette, 230  ;  on  character  of  Marie- 
Antoinette,  238  ;  visit  to  France,  248- 
254 ;  conversations  with  King  and 
Queen  and  contempt  for  women,  249  ; 
occupies  Lower  Bavaria,  257 ;  de- 
mands opening  of  the  Scheldt,  279  ; 
intrigues  against  Holland,  280 ;  re- 
peated warnings  to  his  sister,  290 

Joyeux  Avenement  renounced,  214 

Keppel  defeated  off  Ouessant,  257 
Klosterkampen,  Battle  of,  184 
Kloster-Zeven  Convention,  176 
Kiinersdorff,  Battle  of,  183 

La  BRrrYiiRE  on  financiers,  36 

La  Chatolais,  affair  of,  194 

La  Chaussee,  playwright,  320 

La  Fayette,  Marquis  de,  joins  United 
States  Army,  255  ;  returns  for  more 
troops,  262  ;  success  under  Washing- 
ton, 265  ;  proposes  National  Assembly, 
287  ;  arraigns  Calonne,  285 

La  Fert6,  dismissal  by  Louis  XVI,  214 

La  Marck,  Comte  de,  criticism  of  Mario- 
Antoinette  and  her  circle,  235-237 

La  Marck,  Comtesse  de,  on  Marie-Antoin- 
ette, 243 

La  Motte,  Comtesse  de,  intrigues  con- 
nected with  necklace,  275,  276  ;  con- 
demned, 278 

La  Tour,  Quentin  de,  297  ;  portrait  of 
Marie  Leszczynska,  299 ;  encounter 
with  Louis  XV  and  proposed  portrait 
of  La  Reynidre,  300 

La  Valletto,  P6re,  Jesuit  missionary, 
190 

La  VriUi^re,  Due  de,  13,  197,  229 

Lagrange-Chancel,  Philippiques  of,  37 

Lalande,  astronomer,  311 

Lally-ToUendal,  327 

Lamballe,  Princesso  de,  promoted  by 
Marie -Antoinette,  229 ;  friendship  with 
the  Queen,  201-234 

Lambert,  Marquise  de,  salon  and  works, 
332 

Lanson,  G.,  on  Voltaire,  328 

Lantara,  S.  M.,  landscapes,  303 

Laval,  Comte  de,  46 

Lavoisier,  chemist,  311 

Law,  John,  projector,  28  ;  character  and 
antecedents,  29  ;  Bank  started,  30  ; 
popularity  of  his  Bank,  31  ;    besieged 


by  petitioners,  32  ;    panic,  34  ;    flight 
and  death,  35 
Law  of  silence,  164 
Lawfeld,  victory,  150 
Lo  Chambrier,  Baron,  on  Louis  XV,  188 
Lcoward  Isles,  naval  victory  for  England, 

268 
Lonormand,   sentenced   by   Ohambre   de 

Justice,  27 
Lespinasse,    Mile,    do,     on    Turgot   and 

Louis  XVI,  221  ;  her  salon,  335 
Lettre  d'un  bon  Fran^ais,  265 
Letires  de  Cachet,  by  Mirabeau,  270 
Lettres  Persanes,  by  Montesquieu,  324 
Lettres  Pkilosophiques,  by  Voltaire,  325 
Leuthen,  victory  over  Austrians,  178 
Levis,  Duo  de,  description  of  Comtesse 
de  Polignac,  235  ;  on  extravagance  of 
Calonne,  272 
Liancourt,  Due  de,  on  last  days  of  Louis 

XV,  207 
Lit  de  Justice,  165,  219 ;  resorted  to  by 

Brienne,  288 
Louis    I    of    Spain    marries    Regent's 

daughter,  62 
Louis  XIV,  death,  3  ;  will  set  aside,  7,  8  ; 
table  of  descendants,  10 ;  Steele  de, 
by  Voltaire,  325 ;  masterpieces  of 
literature  under,  329 
Louis  XV,  birth,  4  ;  minority  and  educa- 
tion, 12  ;  released  from  governess  and 
unfortunate  training,  14  ;  Marquis  de 
Villeroy  appointed  governor,  15  ;  ad- 
dress of  Massillon  to,  18  ;  contest 
between  Regent  and  Villeroy,  and 
Bishop  of  Frejus  tutor,  19  ;  political 
education,  23  ;  betrothed  to  daughter 
of  Philip  V,  50  ;  marriage  schemes,  62  ; 
betrothed  to  Marie  Leszczynska,  63  ; 
announcement  of  marriage,  66  ;  weak- 
ness of  character,  77  ;  children  of,  98  ; 
Idle  life,  108;  escape  at  Metz,  110; 
supports  Elector  of  Bavaria,  114;  on 
death  of  Floury,  123 ;  decides  to 
govern  by  himself,  129  ;  gives  up  cause 
of  Charles  VII,  133  ;  signs  Treaty  of 
Fontaine bleau,  134  ;  sets  out  for  Lille, 
135 ;  reception,  137 ;  advances  to 
Metz,  138 ;  illness  there,  140 ;  re- 
covery, 141  ;  return  to  Paris  and 
Freiburg  captured,  142  ;  unpopularity 
begins,  153  ;  remonstrance  by  Parlia- 
ment, 161  ;  money  vote  from  clergy, 
165 ;  attempt  of  Damiens  on,  166 ; 
first  Treaty  of  Versailles,  174  ;  frivolity 
as  to  his  confessor,  190  ;  under  the 
influence  of  Dauphine,  192  ;  dismissal 
of  Choiseul,  197  ;  secret  correspondence, 
202  ;  levity  as  to  partition  of  Poland, 
204  ;  illness  and  new  Parliament,  200  ; 

341 


INDEX 


last  days,  207  ;  death  and  funeral.  210  ; 
repartee  to  La  'J'our,  300  ;  buildings 
in  Paris  under,  307  ;  conversation  as 
to  Encyclopjedia,  314,  315 

Louis  XVI,  birth,  lG-1 ;  marries  Mario- 
Antoinette,  199  ;  character,  200  ; 
succession,  210  ;  favourable  reception. 
213  ;  weakness  of  character,  215,  219  ; 
confidence  in  Turgot,  221  ;  intervenes 
in  Corn  War,  224  ;  partial  support  of 
1'urgot,  225 ;  coronation  at  Reims, 
226  ;  weakness  as  to  do  Guines,  229  ; 
character  by  Croy,  243  ;  wise  policy 
and  warning  to  Marie-Antoinette,  257  ; 
economy  practised,  201  ;  firmness  on 
death  of  Maurepas,  267 ;  yields  to 
Polignac  group,  270 ;  persuaded  to 
appoint  Calonno.  271,  272  ;  visit  to 
Cherbourg,  282,  283  ;  prestige  shaken, 
289  ;  institutes  Grands  Bailliages,  292  ; 
buildings  in  Paris  under,  307,  308 

Louise.  Madame,  birth,  98 ;  character 
and  death,  103 

Louise-Elisabeth.  Duchess  of  Parma, 
birth,  98  ;  ambitious  schemes,  100 

Lozilliero  on  personal  appearance  of 
Marie  Loszczynska,  69 

Mauohalt  dismissed,  169 

Machy,  views  of  Paris,  303 

"  Madame  Deficit,"  288 

Main-Morto  abolished,  261 

Maine,  Due  de,  4  ;  character  and  career,  6 

Maine,  Duchesso  de,  46,  47 ;  salon  at 
Sceaux,  330 

Maintenon,  Madamo  de,  retirement,  9 

Malesherbes,  fall  of,  242 

Malezieu,  330 

Marais,  Mathieu,  23  ;  reference  to  Mario 
Leszczynska,  66  ;    on  do  Thianges,  90 

Mardick  abandoned,  44 

Maria  Theresa,  description  of,  113; 
crowned  Queen  of  Hungary,  117; 
deceived  by  Treaty  of  Aix-la-('haj)elle, 
152;  overtures  to  Louis  XV,  174; 
desire  for  war,  181  ;  promised  return 
of  yilesia  to,  182  ;  intending  to  betray 
Louis  XV,  201  ;  partition  of  Poland, 
203  ;  on  Marie  -  Antoinette,  217  ; 
remonstrance  to  Louis  XVI,  220  ;  un- 
easiness as  to  Ohoiseul,  228  ;  on  matters 
at  Versailles,  231  ;  her  admonitions  to 
Marie-Antoinette,  241  ;  disapproves  of 
Joseph  11 'a  visit  to  Franco,  251,  252  ; 
death,  264  ;  warning  as  to  do  Rohan, 
278 

Mariagt  d»  Figaro,  by  Bcaumarchala, 
269 

Maric-Antolnctto,  marriage  to  Dauphin, 
199  ;    isolated  life,  201  ;    antipathy  to 

342 


D'Aiguillon,  216 ;  coteries  formed,  219  » 
interference  with  Turgot,  225  ;  corona- 
tion, 227  ;  intriguing  for  Choiseul,  228  ; 
personal  partialities,  230 ;  fond  of 
gambling  and  jewels.  231  ;  intimate 
friends,  232  ;  extravagant  liberty.  234  ; 
partiality  for  Madame  de  Polignac, 
235  ;  confidential  letter  to  Rosenberg, 
238  ;  subterfuges  begin,  241  ;  extrava- 
gance. 243  ;  visit  of  and  friction  with 
Joseph  II.  249  ;  seeks  to  assist  Austria, 
257  ;  birth  of  Madame  Royalo  and  new 
era,  258,  259  ;  affection  for  children, 
260 ;  promotion  of  intimates,  264 ; 
support  of  Necker  and  birth  of  Dau- 
phin, 266  ;  icy  reception  in  Paris,  274  ; 
discredited.  278  ;  interference  with 
politics,  279 ;  insulted,  288 ;  sends 
for  Nockor,  293 ;  patroness  of  Glttck, 
308 

Marie-Josephe,  Dauphine,  constancy  and 
devotion  to  her  children,  192  ;  death, 
193  ;   portrait  by  La  Tour,  299 

Mario  Leszczynska  betrothed  to  Louis 
XV,  63  ;  antecedents,  65  ;  lampoons, 
08  ;  portraits  by  La  Tour  and  Gobcrt, 
09,  194  ;  marriage  at  Fontaine bleau 
and  journey  to  Paris,  71-73 ;  dis- 
pleases Fleury,  77  ;  coolness  of  the 
King.  82  ;  personal  life,  106  ;  goes  to 
the  King  at  Metz,  140  ;  death  of  her 
father,  193  ;  her  death.  194 

Marie-Iiouitie  of  Savoy,  death,  39 

Marivaux,  dramatist,  320 ;  Paul  de 
Saint  Victor  on,  320 ;  example  of  his 
art,  321 

Marmontel  on  Marivaux  and  Madame 
do  Tencin,  333 

Marseilles  plague.  37 

Massillon,  address  to  Louis  XV,  18 

Maudoux,  Abb('-,  Louis  XV's  coufossor, 
209 

Maupcou  aids  King  against  Parliament, 
195  ;  reforms  decreed,  205  ;  contest 
with  Palais  Royal  party  and  dismissal, 
218 

Maurepas  returns  to  power.  215  ;  Minis- 
ter of  State,  216;  aids  Marie-Antoin- 
ette, 233  ;  quoted,  242  ;  epigram  on 
Necker  and  C^lergy,  246  ;  fails  to  save 
Necker,  265  ;  death,  266 

Maximilian,  Archduke,  visit  to  France, 
248 

Maximilian  Joseph  of  Bavaria,  death  and 
subsequent  complications,  257 

Meheraet  Effendi,  Ambassador  from 
Turkey,  17 

Meilhac,  S(!nao  de,  on  Turgot.  240 

Mhnoirea  sfcrcis  on  Madame  Gcoffrin,  334 

Meuiu  captured,  137 


INDEX 


Mercy  on  Princesse  de  Lamballe,  234  ; 
warning  to  Maria  Thoresa,  214  ;    as  to 
quarrels  between  Joseph  II  and  Mario- 
Antoinette,    250 ;     on   favouritism   of 
Marie-Antoinette,     264 ;      description 
of  internal  troubles,  288 
Mesmer,  magnetism,  271  ;  dupes,  274 
Mirabeau,  Lettres  de  Cachet,  270 
Mississippi  Scheme,  33,  34 
Molinists  opposed  to  Jansenists,  123 
Molwitz,  victory  of  Prussians,  116 
Monsieur,  his  criticism  of  Joseph  II,  252 
Montauban,   Bishop  of,   champions   an- 
cient liberties,  163 
Montesquieu,  25  ;    Esprit  des  Lois,  1 56  ; 
share    in    Encyclopaedia,    313 ;    other 
works,  323 
Montgolfier,  aeronaut,  311 
Montreal  taken  by  English,  181 
Munich  taken  by  Austrians,  119 
Musicians,  308-310 

Naples,  march  of  Don  Carloa  to,  92 ; 
reaches,  96 

Napoleon  I  on  battle  of  Leuthen,  178 

National  Assembly  proposed  by  La 
Fayette,  287 

National  Debt,  bankruptcy  proposed  by 
Saint-Simon,  26 

Necker  called  in  to  succeed  Amelot,  243  ; 
character,  244-246  ;  reforms,  247  ; 
retrenchments,  261  ;  prepares  for 
further  reforms,  262  ;  issues  Compte 
Rendu,  265  ;  fall,  265  ;  Administration 
des  Finances,  273  ;  return  to  office, 
294 

Neipperg,  Field  Marshal,  victory  of 
Molwitz,  116 

Nesle,  de,  sisters,  109 

Noailles,  Cardinal  de.  Archbishop  of  Paris, 
123  ;  submission  to  Pope,  124 

Noailles,  Marshal,  de,  national  bank- 
ruptcy opposed  by,  26  ;  yields  place  to 
Argenson,  28  ;  prophecy  as  to  Law, 
61  ;  advises  Louis  XV,  131  ;  meets 
Charles  VII,  133  ;  slackness  in  war, 
141  ;    out  of  favour,  142 

Noailles,  Sophie  de,  108 

Nobility,  newly  founded,  158 

Normandie,  Due  de,  the  "  Child  of  the 
Temple,"  260 

Notables,  Assembly  of,  convoked,  283, 
284 ;  dismisBed,  287 ;  reassembled, 
294 

Nouvelle  Eeloise,  by  J.  J.  Rousseau,  329 

Nymphenburg,  Treaty  of,  116 

Obeekiroh,  Baronne  d',  on  Cagliostro, 

274 
(Edipe,  324 


Oliva,  Baronne  d'  (Mario-Nicolo  Lequaz), 
275 

Ollivior,  picture  of  Conti's  salon,  331 

Orleans  Pedigree,  11 

Orleans,  Philippe,  Duo  d,'  character,  6  ; 
Regency  decided  on,  7  ;  early  portraits 
of,  9  ;  justified  by  d'Aguesseau  and 
behaviour  at  Mass,  25 ;  refuses  to 
pardon  Comto  do  Horn,  34  ;  upsets 
plans  of  Alberoni,  41  ;  death,  52 ; 
daughter  marries  Louis  I  of  Spain  and 
son  marries  Princess  of  Baden,  62 

Orleans,  Louis  d',  proxy  at  marriage  of 
Louis  XV,  70  r 

Orleans,  Philippe  d'  (Egalitd),  protests 
against  reform,  262  ;  protests  against 
loan,  290  ;  exiled,  291 

Ouessant,  naval  battle,  257 

Palais  Royal  party  supports  Princesse 

de  Lamballe,  235 
Palatine,  Madame,  14,  58 
Paris,  Treaty,  87  ;    Mississippi  Scheme, 
33  ;   riots,  156  ;   indifference  to  King, 
166 ;    Treaty,  186  ;    cool  reception  of 
King  and  Queen,  218  ;  disturbances  in 
Corn   War,    225 ;     disappointment   at 
birth     of      Madame     Royale,     259 ; 
threatening  placards,  266  ;    icy  recep- 
tion  of    Queen,    274 ;     churches   and 
public  buildings  under  Louis  XV  and 
XVI,  307,  308 
Paris  brothers,  bankers  to  the  State,  37 
Paris,  Deacon,  character  and  death,  124 
Paris-Duvernay,    Minister    of    Finance, 

60  ;  confined  in  Bastille,  81 
Parliament,  treatment  by  Regent,  26  ; 
struggle  with  Regent  as  to  Mississippi 
Scheme  and  exile,  35  ;  accepts  Bull 
Unigenitus,  51  ;  encroachment  on 
ecclesiastical  power,  124  ;  remonstrates 
with  King  and  friction  with  Clergy, 
161  ;  Grandes  Rimonstrances  published, 
162 ;  decision  against  Jesuits,  190 ; 
conflict  as  to  La  Chatolais,  194 ; 
exiled  and  formed  anew,  195 ;  old 
Parliament  recalled,  219 ;  registers 
edicts  of  Turgot,  225  ;  trial  and  ac- 
quittal of  de  Rohan,  277  ;  enters  lists 
against  Crown,  287 ;  attack  on  ex- 
travagance, 288  ;  banished  to  Troyes, 
289 ;  recalled,  290 ;  quarrel  with 
Louis  XVI,  291  ;  vigorous  protest, 
292  ;  Voltaire's  Letters  burnt  by,  325 
Parma,  battle  won  by  Coigny,  95 
Parvenus   enriched    by   Law's   schemes, 

33 
Peace  proclamation  ceremony,  152 
Pergolesi,  La  serva  padrona,  309 
Perronneau,  300 

343 


INDEX 


Potcr  tho  Great,  visit  to  Franco,  15 ; 
History  of,  by  Voltairo.  327 

Peter  III,  ftccession  and  allianco  with 
Frederick  tho  Great,  185 

Petit-Trianon,  by  Gabriel,  307 

Philip  V,  policy  and  second  marriage  with 
Elizabeth  Farnese,  39 ;  letter  to 
Regent,  48  ;  joins  Quadruple  Allianco, 
49  ;  death.  50 

rhilippique^,  by  Lagrango-Chancel,  37 

Piceini,  contest  with  GlUck,  309 

Pigalle,  tomb  of  Maurice  do  Saxe,  30G 

Piron,  Mitrovuinie,  319 

Pitt  determined  on  war,  185 

Pitt  Diamond,  43 

PKlo,  Comto  do,  French  Ambassador  to 
Denmark,  91  ;  his  heroic  action  in  tho 
cause  of  King  Stanislas,  94  ;  his  death, 
and  memorial,  95 

Poland,  struggle  for  throno  of,  88 ; 
Augustus  lit  elected  King,  90  ;  parti- 
tions of,  187,  202-204 

Polignac,  Cardinal  de,  330 

Polignac,  Comtesse  do,  new  friend  of 
Mario  -  Antoinette,  234  ;  duped  by 
Vaudreuil,  236  ;  family  enriched,  237 

Political  Economy,  312 

Pompadour,  Madame  de,  description,  146, 
155;  Ecole  Militaire  built  under 
auspices  of,  157  ;  growing  unpo])u- 
larity,  159 ;  new  honours,  160 ; 
"  quarter  conversion  "  and  appointed 
Lady  of  tho  Palace,  165;  waning 
popularity,  167  ;  restored  to  favour, 
168  ;  efforts  for  war,  181  ;  death,  188  ; 
portrait  by  La  Tour,  299 

Pompadour,  Marquis  do,  46 

Port  Mahon  captured  by  French,  173 

Ports  of  France,  by  Vcrnet,  302 

Pragmatic  Sanction,  112 

Prague,  siege  by  Charles  Albert,  118; 
evacuation  by  Belle-Isle,  122 

Prie,  Marquise  de,  character,  59,  60 ; 
interference  with  Queen,  77  ;  exiled, 
81 

Provence,  Comto  do,  character,  231 

QuADRTTPLE    Allianco,    46  ;     joined    by 

Philip  V,  49  ;  confirmed,  86 
Qu(l>eo  taken  by  Englieh,  181 
Qucsnay,  312 

Quesnof's  propositions  condemned,  51 
Question  jrri'jMitnroire,  suppressed,  202 
Quincampoix,  Rue,  Law's  Bourse,  32 

Rabelais,  25 

Rambouillet,  108 

Ramcau,  Ilippolyte  et  Aricie,  308 

Raucoux,  victory  at,  150 

Reaumur,  311 

844 


Reflexions  sur  U  Nouveau  Testament,  by 
Quesnel,  52 

Regency,  system  of,  24  ;  Law's  Bank 
started,  31 

Regent,  see  Orleans,  Philippe  d' 

Regent  Diamond,  see  Pitt  Diamond 

Retz,  Cardinal  do,  memoirs  published, 
25 

Revolution  begnn,  294 

Rhine,  French  cross,  117;  crossed  by 
Charles  of  Lorraine,  138  ;  rccrosscd, 
141 

Richelieu  supersedes  d'Estrdea,  176 ; 
efforts  for  Maurepas,  215 

Ripporda,  fall  of,  87 

Rivarol  on  fall  of  Kings,  294 

Robert,  pictures  of  ruins,  303 

Robinson  on  coronation  of  Maria 
Theresa,  117 

Rochambeau  goes  to  United  States,  262 

Rohan,  Cardinal  de,  letter  concerning 
Maria  Theresa,  203  ;  du])ed  by  Caglios- 
tro,  274  ;  buys  Diamond  Necklace  and 
arrest,  270 ;  put  in  Bastille,  277 ; 
acquitted  and  exiled  to  La  Chaise- 
Dieu,  278 

Rohan-Soubiso.  Cardinal  do,  65 

Rossbach,  Battle  of,  178 

Roucher,  death  with  Ch(!"nier,  318 

Rousseau,  landscape-painter,  303 

Rousseau,  J.  J.,  Letters  sur  la  Musique 
Fran^atse,  164  ;  teachings  in  fashion, 
259  ;  letters,  309  ;  quarrel  with  Vol- 
tairo, 326  ;  character  and  worka,  328, 
329 

Sahit-Aionav,  Due  de,  on  character  of 

Elizabeth  Farnese,  40 
Saint  Germain,  victory  at  Korbach,  184  ; 

Minister  of  War  and  dismissal,  242 
Saint-Queutin,  Museum  of,  299 
Saint-Simon,  National  bankruptcy  pro- 
posed by,  20 
Saint-Sulpico  built,  307 
Saint-Victor,  P.  de,  on  Marivaux,  320 
Sainte-Genevidve,  afterwards  Panthton, 

307 
Salons,  330-335 

Sartine,  success  with  Navy,  263 
Savannah,  defeat  of  d'Estaing,  263 
Saxe,  Maurice  de,  Marslial,  takes  Pragtio, 

118;   battle  of  Fontcnoy,  148  ;  death, 

158 
Science,  310-314 
Sculptors,  300 
S(fgur,  Marquis  do,  success  at  War  Office, 

263,  264  ;  on  philanthropic  movement, 

270 
Serfdom  partly  abolished,  261 
S6vrc8  factory  founded,  306 


INDEX 


Seytros,  Paul  de,  122 

Sidcle  de  Louis  XIV,  325 

Silesia  ceded  to  Frederick  the  Great,  187 

Soltykoff  defeats  Frederick  the  Great,  183 

Sorel,  European  rivalry  denounced,  205 

Soubise,  defeat  at  Rossbach,  178  ;   made 

General-in-Chief,  185 
Soufflot,  architect  of  Sainte-Genevi^ve, 

307 
Spain,  rupture  with  France,  47 
Spanhcim,  on  character  of  Villeroy,  16 
Spanish  marriages,  50,  68 
"  Squeezer  of  the  King's  Sponges,"  28 
Staal  Delaunay,  Madame  do,  330 
Stair,  Lord,  English  Ambassador  in  Paris, 

45 
Stanhope,  negotiation  with  Dubois,  43 
Stanislas,   King,  daughter  betrothed  to 
Louis  XV,  63  ;   her  marriage  at  Stras- 
burg,    70 ;     advice   to    daughter,    75 ; 
residence  at  Chambord,   76  ;    elected 
King  of  Poland,  89  ;    flight  and  abdi- 
cation, 95  ;  becomes  Duke  of  Lorraine, 
96  ;  last  days,  97  ;  letters  to  daughter 
and  death,  193 
States-General,   convocation  demanded, 

289 
Steinkerque,  Duo  du  Maine  at,  5 
Stormont,    Lord,    English    Ambassador, 

recalled,  256 
Strasburg,  marriage  of  Louis  XV  and  his 

Queen  at,  70 
Stuarts  banished  from  France,  151 
Suffren,  victories  in  India,  268 
Sully,  27 

Sur  la  legislation  et  la  Commerce  des  BUs, 
by  Necker,  245 

Tabouret,  the  privilege  of  the,  160 

Tilemaque,  by  Fenelon,  18,  21,  25 

Tencin,  Madame  de.  Salon  of,  333 

Terray,  dismissed,  218 

Teschen,  258 

TModore,  play,  284 

Thiers,  account  of  Law's  system,  30 

Tilly,  Comte  de,  character  of  Marie- 
Antoinette,  239 

Toulon,  battle,  135 

Toussaint,  Les  Mceurs,  150 

Tragedy,  318 

Triple  Alliance,  44 

Tronchin,  hygienist,  312 

Turgot,  Naval  Minister,  217  ;  on  recall 
of  Parliament,  220  ;  sympathy  for  the 
people,  222  ;  abandoned  by  them,  223  ; 
disowned  by  Louis  XVI,  224  ;  edicts 
registered  by  Parliament  and  Essai  sur 
la  Tolerance,  226  ;  proposed  reforms, 
240  ;  dismissal,  241  ;  fall,  242  ;  share 
in  Encyclopsedia,  313 


Two  SicilieB,  Don  Carlos  becomes  King 
of,  96 

Ultramontane  reaction,  163 

United  States,  independence  declared  and 

Ambassadors    sent    to    Europe,    255 ; 

capitulation  of  Yorktown,  265 

Vaudrettil,  Comte  do,  236 

Vauvenargues,  Eloge  of  Paul  do  Soytree, 
122 

Ventadour,  13,  21 

Vergonnes,  Comto  de,  appointed  for 
Foreign  Affairs,  217 ;  colleague  of 
Necker,  247 ;  negotiations  as  to 
United  States,  255 ;  on  American 
Envoys,  256  ;  avoids  Continental  War, 
258  ;  deceived  by  Calonne,  281  ;  com- 
mercial treaty  with  England,  283 

Vermandois,  Mile,  de,  alleged  interview, 
with  Marquise  de  Prio,  63 

Vernet,  landscapes,  302 

Versailles,  portraits  of  children  of  Louis 
XV,  98 ;  first  Treaty,  174  ;  second 
ditto,  175  ;  third  ditto,  182  ;  "  Jean 
Farine  at,"  224 

Vige6  Lebrun,  Madame,  portraits,  236, 
301 

Villars,  last  campaign  against  Milan,  91  ; 
death,  95 

Villeroy,  Marshal,  appointed  governor  to 
Louis  XV,  15  ;  dismissal,  18  ;  scene 
with  Regent,  19  ;  letter  to  successor, 
22 

Vintimille,  Madame  de,  favourite  of  Louis 
XV,  109 

Voltaire,  21,  25,  63,  67  ;  on  marriage  of 
Louis  XV,  74  ;  letters  from  and  to 
Frederick  the  Great,  113,  120  ;  on  cha- 
racter of  Floury,  125  ;  on  battle  of 
Fontenoy,  150  ;  on  Dauphin,  192  ;  on 
Necker,  246  ;  works  edited  by  Beau- 
marchais  suppressed,  273 ;  Statue, 
306  ;  share  in  Encyclopedia,  313-315  ; 
Zaire,  and  Merope,  318  ;  letters  and 
other  works,  324  ;  reception  at  Pots- 
dam, 326 ;  vindication  of  Calas, 
Sirven,  etc.,  and  death,  327 

Walpole,  Horace,  on  charm  of  Marie- 
Antoinette,  239 

Walpole,  Sir  Robert,  dupes  Cardinal 
Fleury,  171  ;  as  to  Turgot  and  Males- 
herbes,  242 

Watteau,  52,  297,  298 

Whitehall,  Treaty  of,  173 

Worms,  Treaty  of,  134 

Yorktown,  capitulation,  265 
Ypres  captured,  137 


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